The NITI Aayog meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, was marked by political fireworks rather than fostering the progression of the States. The meeting faced a boycott from States governed by INDIA Bloc parties, with the notable exception of West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made headlines by walking out of the NITI Aayog meeting. Adding to the political drama was the conspicuous absence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose party JD(U) is the second largest in Modi’s NDA coalition at the Centre. Intriguingly, Kumar opted to stay in Patna, where he convened a meeting to discuss JD(U)’s prospects for the upcoming Assembly elections in neighbouring Jharkhand, in alliance with the BJP.
To begin with, Mamata claimed that she was unfairly stopped midway through her speech, despite being the sole representative of the Opposition. She said her microphone was switched off after five minutes, while other Chief Ministers were allowed to speak for longer duration.
“This is insulting. I will not attend any further meeting. 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,” Mamata told reporters after coming out of the meeting.
“This is unfair. I am the only one from the Opposition side. I attended this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened,” she added.
However, PIB Factcheck, in a post on X, said it is “misleading” to say Mamata’s microphone was switched off. “The clock only showed that her speaking time was over,” it said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rejected her claim that she was unfairly stopped midway in her speech. “CM Mamata attended the NITI Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time and that was displayed on the screen which was present before every table...She said in the media that her mic was put off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak...It’s unfortunate that the Mamata has claimed that her mic was switched off which is not true...She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” the Finance Minister said.
Mamata said she mentioned during the meeting that the BJP-led Centre presented a politically-biased Budget and asked why it was discriminating among States. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin came out in support of his West Bengal counterpart.
Opposition parties have alleged that the States ruled by them have been ignored in the Union Budget presented recently in the Lok Sabha. Chief Ministers of the INDIA Bloc -- Stalin (DMK), Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M), Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann (Aam Aadmi Party), Congress’s Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) -- skipped the NITI Aayog meeting.
The cause for Bihar CM’s absence from the crucial meeting could not be known immediately and the State was represented by Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.
Kumar, who after the Centre’s announcement of the decline of Special Status Category quipped last week that all will know everything “slowly-slowly,” chaired a meeting of his party at his official residence. The meeting was attended by JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, among others.
In his address to the ninth Governing Council meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, Modi called upon the States to take advantage of technological and geo-political changes to make India a developed nation by 2047.
He also asked the States to make policies which are conducive for attracting international investments. NITI Aayog in a series of social media posts said the Prime Minister emphasised the need to make India a developed nation by 2047 and states can play an active role in achieving this aim as they are directly connected with the people.
“Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is the ambition of every Indian. States can play an active role to achieve this aim as they are directly connected with the people,” NITI Aayog said in a post on X quoting Modi.
Modi further said this decade is of technological and geo-political changes, and also of opportunities.
“India should grab these opportunities and make our policies conducive for international investments. This is the stepping stone for progress to make India a developed nation,” he added.
“Reforms like #NEP, schemes like #Mudra, #PMVishwakarma, #PMSvanidhi, reforms in criminal justice system etc. Should be utilised for bringing about transformational change in Indian society and economy,” NITI Aayog said in another post on X quoting Modi.
The Prime Minister also said India is a youthful country. “It is a huge attraction for the entire world because of its workforce. We should aim to make our youth a skilled and employable workforce. Emphasis on skill, research, innovation and job-based knowledge is necessary for making Viksit Bharat @ 2024.”