Mamata counters PIB 'fact-check' on her session at NITI Aayog meeting

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has countered the statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) refuting her claim that her microphone was switched off during the 9th Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog in the national capital on Saturday.

"It is claimed that the microphone of the CM, West Bengal, was switched off during the 9th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog. This is not correct. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it,” the PIB, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said in a fact-check.

“Alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early,” the PIB added.

Interacting with mediapersons at the airport on her return to Kolkata on Saturday afternoon, Mamata Banerjee termed the PIB statement an attempt to hide the truth superficially.

“Before me, Chandrababu Naidu spoke for about 20 minutes. Among the Chief Ministers from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, some spoke for 15 minutes, some for 16 minutes, while some spoke for 20 minutes. However, when I was about to complete five minutes, the bell was pressed asking me to stop. Thereafter, I walked out,” the Chief Minister said.

She also claimed that such a gesture was an insult to a senior politician like her.

“I was the only Chief Minister from the opposition block attending the meeting. I should have been given credit for that. I did the right thing by walking out of the meeting,” she said.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also termed Banerjee's allegations “completely false”.

“She attended the NITI Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every Chief Minister was given an allotted time which was displayed on the screen present before every table,” Sitharaman said.

“She told the media that her mic was put off. That is completely false. Every Chief Minister was given their due time to speak. She should speak the truth rather than building a narrative based on falsehood,” the Finance Minister added.

Bengal BJP leader Locket Chatterjee, meanwhile, accused the Chief Minister of contradicting what she said in New Delhi earlier in the day after staging a walkout from the NITI Aayog meeting.

“In New Delhi, she said her microphone was switched off. But after returning to Kolkata, she claimed that the stop-buzzer was pressed five minutes into her speech. Such self-righteousness is nothing new on her part,” Chatterjee said.