Darjeeling MP Raju Bista Criticizes Mamata Banerjee’s Walkout from NITI Aayog Meeting
Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], July 28: Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista criticized West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for walking out of the NITI Aayog meeting on July 27. Bista described her actions as ‘unfortunate’ and said her behavior negatively impacts Bengal’s development.
Bista stated, ‘The drama that Mamata Banerjee did yesterday during the NITI Aayog meeting is very unfortunate and because of her behavior, Bengal suffers a lot. She should have discussed things at the meeting for the development of the state.’
He further added that Banerjee’s main motive was to protest against the Centre and NITI Aayog, and no Chief Minister should behave in such a manner.
On July 27, Banerjee walked out of the meeting, accusing the Centre of ‘insulting Bengal’ by interrupting her speech and favoring BJP-ruled states. She said, ‘In the entire country, the way in which all the opposition-ruled states have been neglected and BJP ruled states and their alliance members have been favored, we don’t have any objection if any state is given more money but this is not acceptable that someone will get and someone will not get at all.’
However, the central government’s fact-checking body, PIB, refuted her claims, stating that her microphone was not switched off and that her speaking time was simply over. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also called Banerjee’s claims ‘completely false’ and emphasized that every Chief Minister was given their allotted time to speak.
According to PIB, Banerjee was accommodated as the seventh speaker upon an official request from the West Bengal government, even though her turn would have come after lunch alphabetically.
Doubts Revealed
Darjeeling -: Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal, famous for its tea gardens and beautiful views of the Himalayas.
MP -: MP stands for Member of Parliament. It is a person elected to represent a specific area in the Parliament of India.
Raju Bista -: Raju Bista is a politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and represents Darjeeling in the Indian Parliament.
Mamata Banerjee -: Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister of West Bengal, a state in eastern India. She is the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.
Walkout -: A walkout is when someone leaves a meeting or event as a form of protest or disagreement.
NITI Aayog -: NITI Aayog is a policy think tank of the Government of India, which aims to foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process.
BJP -: BJP stands for Bharatiya Janata Party, which is one of the two major political parties in India.
Chief Minister -: A Chief Minister is the head of the government of an Indian state, similar to a governor in the United States.
Centre -: In this context, ‘Centre’ refers to the central government of India, which is based in New Delhi.
Union Finance Minister -: The Union Finance Minister is the person in charge of the financial and economic affairs of the country. Nirmala Sitharaman is the current Finance Minister of India.
Fact-checking body -: A fact-checking body is an organization that verifies the accuracy of statements made by public figures and institutions.