Treatment meted out to West Bengal CM at Niti meet unacceptable: Congress

The Congress on Saturday said the treatment meted out to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a Niti Aayog meeting in New Delhi was "unacceptable".

The opposition party's scathing criticism of the government think tank came after Banerjee walked out of the 9th Governing Council meeting of the Niti Aayog, claiming she was unfairly stopped midway through her speech.

The Congress said the Niti Aayog has functioned as a "drumbeater" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was chairing the meeting, since it was set up 10 years ago.

The meeting was boycotted by Congress party chief ministers over discrimination against non-NDA-ruled states in the Union Budget.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Since it was established ten years ago, NITI Aayog has been an attached office of the PMO and has functioned as a drumbeater for the non-biological PM."

It has not advanced the cause of cooperative federalism in any manner, he said.

"Its functioning has been blatantly partisan, and it is anything but professional and independent," Ramesh alleged. "It muzzles all divergent and dissenting viewpoints, which are the very essence of an open democracy. Its meetings are a farce to be reckoned with."

Its treatment of the West Bengal CM today, although typical of the NITI Aayog, is "unacceptable", Ramesh said in a post on X.

The government rejected Banerjee's charges, saying the time allotted to her for speaking at the meeting was over.