“No room for political bias…” Mamata Banerjee walks out of PM Modi chaired Niti Aayog meeting after she was ‘stopped midway’ during her speech.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday walked out of the Niti Aayog meeting as a mark of protest, claiming that she was allowed to speak for just five minutes. “Other state chief ministers were allowed to speak for more than 15 mins but they stopped me in between, that’s humiliating”, Mamata Banerjee alleged as she left the meeting in New Delhi midway.

Chief Ministers of three Congress-ruled states including Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana had decided to boycott the meeting after the Union Budget, they claimed had denied them equal attention like Andhra Pradesh or Bihar. Tamil Nadu and Kerala Chief ministers too had decided to boycott the meeting. “I was the only representation from the opposition. I told them while you are in Government, you have to take care of all. Their chief ministers spoke for 12 minutes, 15 minutes but during my turn, they stopped me in five minutes. This is their political bias. The budget has already deprived the states not ruled by BJP. I informed them that Bengal’s dues are pending for three years” Mamata Banerjee added.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Trinamool Congress supremo also reportedly also urged to bring back the Planning Commission, one that was started by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, but replaced by the Modi government with Niti Aayog on January 1, 2015. “Niti Aayog has no financial powers whereas Planning Commission had, it’s thus better to have it back”, Banerjee quipped.

The Union Budget 2024 has made special allocations as financial assistance for Andhra Pradesh, a state ruled by TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu and also for Nitish Kumar’s Bihar. Both TDP and JD(U) are critical allies of NDA at the center after the BJP fell short of the majority on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. While special flood relief packages were announced for Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam and Uttarakhand, but Bengal was included in the proposed allocation in the Union Burget. The Opposition INDIA bloc has termed it “kursi bachao” ( save chair) budget, appeasing the allies. While other opposition-ruled states refused to attend the meeting, Mamata Banerjee did but later ‘quit’ midway.​