'Mamata lying': Adhir Chowdhury questions her NITI Aayog meeting allegations
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of dishonesty after the latter claimed that her mic was muted at the 9th Governing Council Meeting of the NITI Aayog. "I feel like she is lying...it is very surprising if a state's CM wouldn't be allowed to speak. Mamata Banerjee knew what would be happening there...she had the script," he told ANI. He also suggested that Banerjee may be envious of Rahul Gandhi's national political prominence.
Banerjee jealous of Rahul Gandhi: Chowdhury
"I think that today, the way Rahul Gandhi appears as a leader of the opposition in all of India, and the way common people of India have faith in Rahul Gandhi, it has started to create jealousy in her mind," he claimed. "Mamata Banerjee's jealousy seems to have increased excessively," he added. Banerjee had abruptly left the NITI Aayog meeting on Saturday, accusing the central government of intentional disrespect.
She had the script: Chowdhury
West Bengal CM accuses central government of insult
"I said you (Centre) shouldn't discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak, but my mic was muted. I was allowed to speak only for 5 minutes, while people before me spoke for 10-20 minutes," Banerjee told reporters. "I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting," she added.
Centre refutes her claim
The Centre has refuted her allegations that her mic was muted. "This claim is Misleading. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it," the Press Information Bureau wrote in a post on X. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also rebuffed Banerjee's claim, calling it "completely false." "We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time, and that was displayed on the screen present before every table," she said.
