Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and NITI Aayog CEO Respond to Mamata Banerjee’s Claims

Patna (Bihar) [India], July 27: Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has denied the allegations made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes at the NITI Aayog meeting. Manjhi stated, ‘There is nothing like that. Everybody was given 5 minutes to speak. When she completed 5 minutes, she was given a warning that her time had finished. On this, she left the meeting, saying things like ‘partiality is being done; she was given less time and others were given more time, and NITI Aayog is influenced by politics.’

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, also dismissed Banerjee’s claim that her microphone was muted. 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 said, ‘The Chief Minister of West Bengal requested to be given a turn before lunchtime. It was a clear request from their side because normally we would have gone alphabetically. We adjusted, and the Defence Minister called her in just before Gujarat. So, she made her statement.’

Subrahmanyam 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. The Chief Secretary continued to attend the meeting even after she left to catch a flight to Calcutta.’

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. ‘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,’ Banerjee told reporters after she stormed out of the NITI Aayog meeting.

Banerjee added, ‘I was the only one from the opposition participating, but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting. 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.’

Claiming she participated in the meeting to strengthen ‘cooperative federalism,’ Banerjee said, ‘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 stated that several states, including West Bengal, were deprived in the Union Budget presented in Parliament this week.