NITI Aayog CEO and Finance Minister Refute Mamata Banerjee’s Mic Muting Claim

New Delhi [India], July 27: Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, dismissed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim that her microphone was muted during the NITI Aayog meeting. He clarified that each Chief Minister was given a designated speaking time, which was displayed on screens at their tables, and that the time allotted to the West Bengal CM had ended.

Subrahmanyam explained that Banerjee requested to speak before lunch, and this request was accepted. He stated, “The Chief Minister of West Bengal requested to be given a turn before lunchtime. We adjusted, and the Defence Minister called her in just before Gujarat. So, she made her statement.”

He further added, “Every Chief Minister is allotted seven minutes, and there’s a clock on top of the screen that shows the remaining time. 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. We all heard her points respectfully, and they will be reflected in the minutes.”

Subrahmanyam also mentioned that the Chief Ministers of ten states and Union Territories did not attend the meeting, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Puducherry.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also rejected Banerjee’s claim, stating that every Chief Minister was “allotted due time to speak.” She described Banerjee’s claims as “unfortunate” and added that the government was happy that Banerjee attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the opposition.

Sitharaman remarked that Banerjee should have requested more time if needed, instead of using it as an excuse to walk out of the meeting. She said, “If reminded that her time is over, she could have requested to continue speaking like other Chief Ministers did. Instead, she used it as an excuse to leave the meeting.”

Earlier, the central government’s fact-checking body refuted Banerjee’s claim, stating that “only the clock showed that her speaking time was over.” The Press Information Bureau (PIB) explained that Banerjee was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request from the West Bengal government as she had to return early.

Speaking to reporters, Banerjee alleged “political discrimination,” stating that she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes, while other Chief Ministers were given more time. She claimed, “I was the only one from the opposition participating, but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting.”

Banerjee said she participated in the meeting to strengthen “cooperative federalism” and share regional aspirations. She also stated that several states, including West Bengal, were deprived in the Union Budget presented in Parliament this week.