Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hits out at Congress chief Jairam Ramesh, who mentioned that NITI Aayog’s “treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is unacceptable” and mentioned that Mamata Banerjee’s declare is “baseless”, including that she is making an effort to maintain the leaders of the INDIA bloc pleased.
Refuting allegations made by West Bengal CM, Ms. Sitharaman, whereas replying to Jairam Ramesh on X, mentioned that the previous spoke her full time and her mic was not switched off in between on the NITI Aayog’s assembly on Saturday.
“Jairam, you weren’t even there! We all heard Hon. CM @MamataOfficial. She spoke her full time. The screen in front of our tables kept showing the time. A few other CMs spoke beyond their allotted time. On their own request, extra time was allowed without any fuss. Mikes were not switched off, not for anybody, particularly, not for CM, WB. Mamata ji has chosen to spread falsehood. I was happy she attended,” she mentioned.
“Was happier when she said she is speaking for Bengal and in fact for the entire opposition. I may agree or disagree with what she had to say. But now with her saying baseless things outside, I can only conclude that she is making an effort to keep I.N.D.I alliance happy,” the Finance Minister added.
Earlier, whereas launching a scathing assault on NITI Aayog, the Congress Basic Secretary mentioned that the advisory physique has been an hooked up workplace of the Prime Minister’s Workplace and has functioned as a drumbeater for the non-biological PM.
“Since it was established ten years ago, NITI Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has functioned as a drumbeater for the non-biological PM. It has not advanced the cause of cooperative federalism in any manner. Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it is anything but professional and independent,” Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
“It muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints, which are the very essence of an open democracy. Its meetings are a farce to be reckoned with. Its treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is unacceptable,” he added.
In the meantime, with the West Bengal CM attending the Niti Aayog assembly on Saturday, JD-U chief KC Tyagi requested if she wished to affix the ruling NDA, stating that she had taken a call that was not in step with the transfer of different chief ministers of the INDIA bloc to boycott the assembly.
“INDIA alliance has decided that all its members will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting. I want to ask Mamata Banerjee if she wants to join NDA because even after being asked not to go, she went to the NITI Aayog meeting,” Mr. Tyagi instructed ANI.
Earlier, Chief Govt Officer of NITI Aayog, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, dismissed Mamata Banerjee’s declare that her microphone was muted whereas talking on the NITI Aayog assembly.
He clarified that every Chief Minister was given a delegated talking time, which was displayed on screens at their tables, and that the time allotted to the West Bengal CM had ended.
Addressing a press convention after the NITI Aayog assembly, Mr. Subrahmanyam mentioned that the West Bengal CM requested to talk early earlier than lunch, and “it was accepted.”
“The Chief Minister of West Bengal requested to be given a turn before lunchtime. I’m just putting facts on the ground, no interpretations. It was a clear request from their side because normally we would have gone alphabetically, starting with Andhra Pradesh, then Arunachal Pradesh. We adjusted, and the Defence Minister called her in just before Gujarat. So, she made her statement,” he mentioned.
“Every Chief Minister is allotted seven minutes, and there’s a clock on top of the screen that shows the remaining time. It goes from seven to six to five to four to three. At the end, it shows zero. Nothing else happened. Then she said she would have liked to speak for more time but chose not to. That was it. We all heard her points respectfully, and they will be reflected in the minutes. The Chief Secretary continued to attend the meeting even after she left to catch a flight to Calcutta,” Mr. Subrahmanyam added.
The CEO additional talked about that the Chief Ministers of ten states and Union Territories didn’t attend the assembly.
“We had 10 absentees and 26 participants. Absentees included Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Puducherry. The Chief Minister of West Bengal was present,” he mentioned.
Nirmala Sitharaman additionally rejected Mamata Banerjee’s declare that her microphone was switched off whereas she was talking on the NITI Aayog assembly and mentioned that each Chief Minister was “allotted due time to speak”.
“CM Mamata Banerjee attended the Niti Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time, and that was displayed on the screen, which was present before every table. We could see that two tables have a screen before us. She said in the media that her mic was turned off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak,” the Finance Minister instructed ANI.
Ms. Sitharaman mentioned that it’s “unfortunate” that the West Bengal CM is making such claims, including that the federal government is pleased that West Bengal Chief Minister attended the assembly and he or she mentioned that she is talking on behalf of the opposition, i.e. INDIA bloc.
“It’s unfortunate that the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has claimed that her mic was switched off, which is not true, and it is unfortunate because we’re happy that she participated in this meeting. She put forth her case, spoke for West Bengal and, as she said, spoke for all the opposition. But even as she was doing it and we were hearing, as per the procedure.”
Ms. Sitharaman additional mentioned that the Bengal CM ought to have requested for greater than the allotted time however she selected to make use of it an excuse to stroll out of the assembly.
“If she’s reminded that her time is over, even with the mic on, she could have requested that she will continue speaking like some other Chief Ministers did. But she chose to use it as an excuse so that she can get out of the meeting,” Ms. Sitharaman mentioned.
“She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” the Finance Minister added.
Talking to reporters, the West Bengal Chief Minister alleged “political discrimination,” stating that on the NITI Aayog assembly, she was not allowed to talk for greater than 5 minutes, whereas different Chief Ministers got extra time.
“I said the central government should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak, but my mic was muted. I was allowed to speak only for five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” Ms. Banerjee instructed reporters after she stormed out of the NITI Aayog assembly at the moment.
“I was the only one from the opposition participating, but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting,” Ms. Banerjee mentioned as she walked out of the assembly halfway.
“I have come out boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped after just five minutes. This is unfair,” the Chief Minister mentioned, chatting with reporters after leaving the assembly.
Claiming she participated within the assembly to strengthen “cooperative federalism,” Ms. Banerjee mentioned, “There are many regional aspirations. That is why I am here, to share those aspirations. If a state is strong, the Union will be strong.”
The Chief Minister said that a number of states, together with West Bengal, had been disadvantaged within the Union Price range introduced in Parliament this week.
