Ranchi: Responding to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that her microphone was switched off during the Niti Aayog meeting, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya termed the incident as discriminatory and said that all states have equal respect. Speaking to ANI, Bhattacharya said, “This is discrimination. All states have equal respect… When Mamata Banerjee was asking a legitimate question, her mic was switched off.” Bhattacharya further said that everyone and every state has self-respect. “If you invite someone and insult him like this, who will remain, everyone has self-respect, every state has self-respect,” he said. Notably, while speaking to reporters, the West Bengal chief minister alleged “political discrimination” and said that she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes at the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while other chief ministers were given more time. Earlier, the central government’s fact-checking body had dismissed the West Bengal chief minister’s claim of her microphone being switched off, calling it “misleading”. PIB Fact Check today dismissed her allegations, saying “only the clock was showing that her speaking time was over.” “It is being claimed that the West Bengal chief minister’s microphone was switched off during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of Niti Aayog.

This claim is misleading. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even a bell was not rung to mark it,” the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a post on X. According to PIB, the government fact-checking body, if seen alphabetically, Mamata Banerjee’s turn to speak would have come only after lunch, but she was “accommodated” as the seventh speaker on the chief minister’s official request. “Alphabetically, CM, West Bengal’s turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the seventh speaker on the official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early,” PIB Fact Check reported in a subsequent tweet. Speaking to reporters, the West Bengal chief minister alleged “political discrimination” and said she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes at the Niti Aayog meeting while other chief ministers were given more time. “…I said you (the central government) should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but my mic was muted.

I was allowed to speak only for five minutes. Those before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” Banerjee told reporters after walking out of the Niti Aayog meeting today. While coming out of the meeting, Banerjee said, “I was the only member of the opposition who was attending the meeting but still I was not allowed to speak. This is humiliating…” Speaking to reporters after coming out of the meeting, the chief minister said, “I have come after boycotting the Niti Aayog meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped after just 5 minutes. This is unfair.” Claiming that she had decided to attend the meeting to strengthen “cooperative federalism”, Banerjee said, “There are many regional aspirations. So I have come here to share those aspirations. If a state is strong, the union will also be strong.” The chief minister said many states, including West Bengal, were deprived in the Union Budget presented in Parliament this week. (ANI)