2024-07-27 15:14:04
Chief ministers from 10 opposition-ruled states boycotted the ninth meeting of the National Transformation Council of India (NITIC) on Saturday, citing “political discrimination”. The day Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the vision of “Independent India” can be achieved through independent states and urged each state to formulate its own vision to develop India by 2047.
Addressing chief ministers and lieutenant governors representing 20 states and six union territories, Modi asked the think tank to prepare an “investment-friendly charter” containing parameters such as policies, plans and processes to be put in place to attract investments.
In his appeal, the Prime Minister said the achievements of states on these parameters could be monitored to promote healthy competition among states to attract investments and called for not missing out on the decade of India’s transformation.
At the same time, he stressed the importance of law and order, good governance and infrastructure in attracting investment, not just incentives.
Mamata Banerjee quits
However, as previously speculated, the NTC meeting ended up being a battleground for words between the central government and opposition-ruled states, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walking out midway, accusing the BJP-ruled Indian National Democratic Alliance government of “political discrimination.”
Banerjee, the only non-BJP-ruled state chief minister present in the meeting, alleged that she was allowed to speak for only five minutes and her microphone was muted. She said, on the contrary, other chief ministers, including those of Andhra Pradesh, were given ample time to speak in the meeting. However, the ruling administration denied her allegations.
“I said you (Centre) should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but my microphone was muted. I could speak for only five minutes while those before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” Banerjee told reporters after the meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan. “I was the only opposition figure present in the meeting but still I was not allowed to speak. It was very insulting,” she added.
FM Counter
Refuting the Bengal chief minister’s allegations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was present at the meeting, said, “Mamata Banerjee attended the NITI committee meeting. We all listened to her speech. Every chief minister was given the allotted speaking time which was displayed on a screen in front of each table. We can see that two tables had a screen in front of them. She said in the media that her microphone was switched off. This is totally wrong. Every chief minister was given due speaking time,” the finance minister said, terming Banerjee’s allegations as “untrue” and “deplorable”.
However, Sitharaman said the government was happy that she was attending the meeting and raising the demands of West Bengal. According to the finance minister, Banerjee said at the meeting that she represented the entire opposition in the official meeting of the NITI committee.
If the Bengal chief minister wanted to say more, she could have sought more time like other chief ministers. “But she chose to use this as an excuse so that she could leave the meeting,” Finance Minister Banerjee retorted.
After the meeting, NITI Council CEO BVR Subrahmanyam told reporters that while there were last-minute dropouts, not all of them dropped out because of the boycott. “We had a lot of last-minute dropouts and I heard speeches from some states that did not attend – Jharkhand and Puducherry. Not all of them dropped out because of the boycott. For those who did not attend, I always say it is their loss. If they had come for us as well as for themselves, then the room would have been richer. No one would have been left out if they did not attend…” he said.
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