Sravasti Dasgupta 
New Delhi: Chief ministers from ten states including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s key ally Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar stayed away from the 9th governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (July 27), which saw West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee-the lone opposition chief minister at the meet- walking out, deepening the fracas between the opposition and the centre over the union budget 2024-25.
At a press conference, after the meeting ended, NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam said that the heads of 26 states and union territories attended the meeting.
“We had ten absentees. We had 26 participants. All states and UTs put together is 36 in number and we had ten absentees, so we had 26,” he said.
“We had absentees from Kerala. That was indicated much earlier, probably ten-twelve days earlier. We had Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh. The last minute we had a dropout from Jharkhand and Puducherry-for some personal reason. Bihar was having an assembly session till late yesterday evening so there was no way he could have arrived. So that was the reason why Bihar didn’t come. The chief minister of West Bengal was however, present.”
Earlier on Saturday, Banerjee told reporters that she had walked out of the meeting after she was “not allowed to speak” and her microphone was switched off.
Subrahmanyam however said that they had received a request in writing from the West Bengal government to give the chief minister time before lunch.
“The chief minister of West Bengal had made a request to be given a turn before lunch time. I am just putting facts, no interpretation. It was a very clear request from them. Normally we would have gone alphabetically so it would begin with Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and then it goes further down. Because West Bengal would be W, it would certainly come post lunch session so they gave a request and it was in writing and we actually readjusted and the Raksha Mantri called her in just before Gujarat. She made her statement. Every chief minister is allotted seven minutes. There is a clock on top of the screen which tells you the time that was remaining. Which goes from 7,6,5,4 at the end of it goes to zero.
“What has happened is that Raksha Mantri just taps on his table. She said that I would like to speak for more time but I will not speak anymore. And that was it. There was nothing more. We all heard. She made her points and we respectfully heard and noted her points which will be reflected in the minutes.
Subrahmanyam added that the West Bengal chief secretary continued after she left as she had a flight to catch to return to Kolkata as she had an “assembly session” to attend.
After Banerjee’s exit, she told reporters that the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Goa were allowed to speak for 10-12 minutes but she was stopped within five minutes.
“I said that you have deprived us in the budget and stopped all developmental schemes for Bengal. For the last three years the 100-day work in Bengal has been stopped, Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana has been stopped…everything has been stopped including food subsidies. We are due Rs 1.71 lakh crore in central government funds till last year. In this budget also we have not got anything, only zero. I only said this much and they switched off my mic,” she said.
Union minister for finance Nirmala Sitharaman also said that Banerjee was allowed to speak, and her mic was not switched off and accused the West Bengal chief minister of using it as an excuse to leave the meeting.
Opposition rallies behind Mamata
Banerjee’s walkout of the NITI Aayog meeting comes amid an ongoing fracas between the opposition and the centre over the union budget presented earlier this week. The opposition has criticised the budget both inside and outside parliament for the disproportionate attention to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to appease the BJP’s key allies Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) terming it a “kursi bachao budget” that is “bribing” allies and is “anti-federal”.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections the BJP fell short of a majority as it won only 240 seats, relying on its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form the government.
Following Banerjee’s exit from the meeting, other opposition parties came out in her support.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) said that the treatment of Banerjee was “atypical and unacceptable.”
“Since it was established ten years ago, NITI Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has functioned as a drumbeater for the non-biological PM. It has not advanced the cause of cooperative federalism in any manner. Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it is anything but professional and independent,” he said.
“It muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints, which are the very essence of an open democracy. Its meetings are a farce to be reckoned with. Its treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is unacceptable.”
Sitharaman countered Ramesh on his post and repeated her earlier statement that Banerjee’s mic was not switched off.
“But now with her saying baseless things outside, I can only conclude that she is making an effort to keep I.N.D.I alliance happy,” she added.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K Stalin who had earlier announced that he would not be attending the meeting also hit out at the centre for the treatment meted out to Banerjee.
“Is this the way to treat a Chief Minister? The Union BJP government must understand that opposition parties are an integral part of our democracy and should not be treated as enemies to be silenced,” he said.
“Cooperative Federalism requires dialogue and respect for all voices.”
Earlier on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut said that the INDIA leaders had decided to not attend the meeting.
“It has been decided that INDIA alliance CMs will not attend the meeting today. Tamil Nadu chief minister has said he will not go. Kejriwal is in jail and there are other chief ministers who do not want to attend. This is because NITI Aayog isn’t able to maintain balance in the development of the country. You have seen in the budget also as well as in the work of the NITI Aayog,” he said to reporters.
Nitish skips meeting
While the NITI Aayog CEO said to reporters that Nitish did not attend the meeting due to the assembly session, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said that this was not the first time that the chief minister had skipped the meeting.
“This is not the first time that the CM is not attending the NITI Aayog meeting. The CM did not attend the meeting earlier as well, and Bihar was represented by the then deputy CM. This time also both the Dy CMs went to attend the meeting,” he was quoted as saying to PTI.
Meanwhile as his government is facing heat from the opposition for undermining cooperative federalism with the budget and the treatment to Banerjee, prime minister Narendra Modi at the meeting said that the vision of Viksit Bharat can be realised through Viksit States. Modi emphasised cooperation and collective effort of all States and the Centre to work together in order to achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat in 2047.