NITI Aayog CEO Clarifies Mamata Banerjee's Early Exit from Meeting

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi: NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam provided a detailed account of the sequence of events leading to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's early exit from the NITI Aayog meeting, clarifying the process and addressing any misconceptions.

"...We had 10 absentees and 26 participants. We had absentees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Puducherry. The chief minister of West Bengal was present. The chief minister of West Bengal had made a request to be given a turn before lunchtime. I'm just putting facts on the ground, no interpretations. It was a very clear request from their side because normally we would have gone alphabetically. So it begins with Andhra Pradesh, then Arunachal Pradesh...We actually adjusted and the Defence Minister actually called her in just before Gujarat. So she made her statement. Every chief minister is allotted seven minutes and there's just a clock on top of the screen which tells you the time that is remaining. So it goes from seven to six to five to four to three. At the end of that, it shows zero. Zero. Nothing else. Nothing else has happened other than that...Then she said look, I would have liked to speak for more time, but I'll not speak anymore. That was it. There was nothing more. We all heard. She made her points and we respectfully heard and noted points, which will be reflected in a minute...Just to mention the fact the chief secretary continued to attend and he was in the room even after she left because she had to catch a flight to Calcutta..."

Subrahmanyam emphasized that Banerjee's departure was procedural and coordinated, countering claims of any deliberate obstruction or disrespect.