Raut says Modi government insulted Mamata

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led government alleging it insulted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the NITI Aayog meeting held in New Delhi. The practice of muting the microphones of the chief minister doesn’t suit democratic norms, he said.

“Mamata Banerjee attended the (NITI Aayog) meeting, but she was not allowed to speak. The West Bengal CM was insulted, her microphone was switched off, this doesn't suit democracy,” Raut said.

His criticism of the union government has come after the West Bengal CM walked out of the NITI Aayog meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday alleging she was not allowed to speak in the meeting held at New Delhi. She claimed that her microphone was switched off after five minutes of her speech while other Chief Ministers, including from Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Assam and Chhattisgarh, were allowed to speak for a longer duration.

Banerjee stated, “I said you (central government) should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but I was allowed to speak only for five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes. I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting.”

Raut said the ‘insult’ of the West Bengal CM was not good for democracy. “States have several issues which need to be addressed and muting the microphone of a chief minister doesn’t suit democratic norms,” he said.

“The money which is distributed by the Centre belongs to the people of India. It is collected as various taxes. What did Maharashtra get? Our chief minister came back empty handed,” Raut said in a dig at the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by Eknath Shinde.

However, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had refuted Banerjee’s allegations saying the latter’s claim are false. The BJP leader asked the TMC supremo to speak “the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood.”

Sitharaman added that everyone there heard her and the West Bengal CM was given the allotted time which was displayed on a screen which was present before every table.