YEARS
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on Twitter saying that since it was set up ten years ago, the Niti Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has acted as a drumbeater for the non-organic PM. It has in no way advanced the cause of cooperative federalism.
The Congress on Saturday condemned the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the meeting, claiming she was unfairly interrupted midway through her speech. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on Twitter that since it was set up ten years ago, the Niti Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has acted as a drumbeater for the non-organic PM. It has in no way advanced the cause of cooperative federalism. Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it has been anything but professional and independent.
He said it suppresses all different and dissenting views, which are the essence of an open democracy. Its meetings are a sham. Its behaviour towards the West Bengal Chief Minister today, though typical of Niti Aayog, is unacceptable. Mamata Banerjee claimed that she was not given even seven minutes to speak in the meeting. She said I was the only one from the opposition-ruled states who went there. They should have given me 30 minutes. Rajnath Singh said everyone should put forth their views in 5-7 minutes, but I was not given even 7 minutes to speak.
Our people were given 20 minutes and the rest were given 0 minutes. I did the right thing by boycotting the meeting. I will not let them insult Bengal. I stand firmly with the opposition parties running the government in other states.
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