Nirmala Sitharaman Disputes Mamata Banerjee’s Claim About Mic Being Turned Off

Ms Banerjee was the only INDIA bloc chief minister not to boycott the Niti Aayog general council meeting. She alleged “political discrimination” and claimed that she was allowed to speak for only five minutes while some of her counterparts from other states got to talk for over 15. She said her microphone was turned off and a bell was rung repeatedly to remind her that her allotted time was up. The finance minister dismissed Ms Banerjee’s claims, stating that every chief minister was given their due time to speak and that her microphone was not switched off.

She added that Ms Banerjee could have requested to continue speaking for longer like some other chief ministers did, instead of using it as an excuse to leave the meeting. Mr. Ramesh criticized Niti Aayog, claiming that it “muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints” and referred to the treatment of the West Bengal chief minister as unacceptable. Ms Sitharaman, in response, retorted that the Congress wasn’t even at the meeting and accused Ms Banerjee of spreading falsehoods to keep her INDIA allies happy. Ms Sitharaman said that she was happy Ms Banerjee attended, but now with her making baseless allegations outside, she can only conclude that she is trying to keep the I.N.D.I alliance happy.