NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday created a flutter by claiming she was not allowed to complete her speech at the NITI Aayog governing council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an allegation that was emphatically denied by the government.Mamata also claimed that her microphone was turned off five minutes into her speech. But the Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking vertical rubbished it. “The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it,” the PIB said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too, trashed the allegation and said every chief minister was “allotted their due time to speak”.B V R Subrahmanyam, the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, informed that all CMs were allotted seven minutes to speak. They got their turn in alphabetic order. “Since Mamata was representing West Bengal, her turn would have come in the afternoon, but she made a request to speak before lunch and it was agreed.”Mamata was the only CM from an Opposition-ruled state to participate. Her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, who is part of the NDA at the Centre, also did not make it. In all, 10 CMs did not show up. Putting it in context, TMC sources said Mamata attended the meet despite attempts by the Opposition INDIA bloc to wean her away, so as to send a message that she would not be guided by Congress strategies.In his address, Modi emphasised the need to tackle poverty on an individual level rather than just at a programme level. “We must target zero poverty as a priority for a Viksit Bharat starting at the village level,” he said, adding it would have a transformational effect across the country.In her speech, Mamata said, “Many states have been deprived in the Budget, including my state, which has been deprived of MNREGA funds for the last three years.” She said the Centre cannot discriminate between states based on its political equation with the parties governing them.Make policies to attract FDI, Modi urges statesModi urged all states to take advantage of technological and geopolitical changes to make India developed by 2047. He advised them to make policies conducive for attracting FDI. He also directed the NITI Aayog to prepare an investment-friendly charter
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