NITI Aayog: Mamata walks out , says “was stopped from speaking after five minutes”

I attended the meeting because cooperative federalism should be strengthened, says the West Bengal Chief Minister

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the NITI Aayog meeting here on Saturday as she said she was stopped from speaking “after just five minutes”. She also slammed the Union Budget for 2024-25, calling it “biased”.

“I have come out boycotting the meeting. (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. The Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair. From the opposition side, I was the only one here. I attended the meeting because cooperative federalism should be strengthened,” she said.

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“Even the Budget…. This is political, biased Budget. I said, why are you discriminating against other States? NITI Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring the Planning Commission back,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said after she came out of the meeting.