‘Microphone was cut last time’: TMC defends Mamata as NITI no-show sparks political storm

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee skips NITI Aayog meeting, sparks fresh political row between TMC and BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to skip the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Saturday has triggered a new political clash between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

The high-level meeting, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the first significant engagement between the Centre and states after India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ against Pakistan.

The meeting, centered around the theme ‘Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat @2047’, brought together chief ministers, lieutenant governors, and Union ministers to discuss strategies for the country’s long-term development.

Banerjee’s decision to skip the meeting drew sharp criticism from BJP leaders. According to the report, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya accused her of putting “political ego above the state's interests.”

“As it is, the financial vulnerability of West Bengal is at an alarming stage. Unemployment and migrant workers from West Bengal are the major problems. In such a situation, the Chief Minister should have attended the meeting to find out avenues on how these hurdles could be overcome by working closely with the Union government. But she chose to skip the meeting to satisfy her political ego and sacrificed the interest of the state," he said as quoted by News18.

As per the report, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told reporters that if the Chief Minister had attended the meeting, she could have highlighted several important issues, including the lack of central fund disbursement needed for the state’s development.

“She could have spoken about the non-disbursement of central funds, which are crucial for the state’s development,” he said.

The TMC, however, defended Banerjee’s absence with party vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar saying that past experiences justified her decision.

According to News18, Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “Last year, it was proved that the Union government did not desire to listen to what our Chief Minister wanted to say, and hence her microphone was stopped amid her speech. This was an insult to the Chief Minister. Why would she attend the meeting to be insulted again?"

In the previous Governing Council meeting held on July 27, 2024, Banerjee had staged a walkout, alleging that her microphone was muted during her speech, and therefore, she could not speak for more than five minutes.

Banerjee claimed that she was given only five minutes to speak, while other representatives who spoke before her got 10 to 20 minutes for their speeches.

However, the Union Government denied her claims via the Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking platform.

Other Key Leaders Absent from NITI Aayog Meeting

Apart from Mamata Banerjee, several other Chief Ministers from southern staes, including the leader of NDA-ruled Puducherry, also missed the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting in New Delhi.

The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana — N Chandrababu Naidu, MK Stalin, and A Revanth Reddy — were expected to attend and present their views on various issues.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a Congress leader, was unable to attend due to prior engagements and submitted a written speech instead, while Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appointed Finance Minister KN Balagopal to represent him.

Similarly, Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who leads the AINRC-led NDA coalition in the Union Territory, also skipped the event, according to an official source.