Was Mamata Banerjee’s Mike switched off? Niti Ayog sets the record straight

Jul 27, 2024

New Delhi, July 27 (ANI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on July 27 walked out of the annual NITI Aayog meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. After she walked out of the meeting she addressed the press and alleged that her mike was stopped when she was addressing her state’s concern. Speaking over the incident, CEO of NITI Aayog B.V.R. Subrahmanyam said she was given time to speak and she made her points and they listened to her and noted points. He said, “We had 10 absentees and 26 participants. We had absentees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Puducherry. The chief minister of West Bengal was present. The chief minister of West Bengal had made a request to be given a turn before lunchtime. I'm just putting facts on the ground, no interpretations. It was a very clear request from their side because normally we would have gone alphabetically. So it begins with Andhra Pradesh, then Arunachal Pradesh...We actually adjusted and the Defence Minister actually called her in just before Gujarat. So she made her statement. Every chief minister is allotted seven minutes and there's just a clock on top of the screen which tells you the time that is remaining. So it goes from seven to six to five to four to three. At the end of that, it shows zero. Zero. Nothing else. Nothing else has happened other than that...Then she said look, I would have liked to speak for more time, but I'll not speak anymore. That was it. There was nothing more. We all heard. She made her points and we respectfully heard and noted points, which will be reflected in a minute...Just to mention the fact the chief secretary continued to attend and he was in the room even after she left because she had to catch a flight to Calcutta.”