Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she intends to attend Saturday’s NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi and will voice her concerns over the “discrimination" meted out to Bengal and other Opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“They (Centre) had conveyed us to submit our speeches in writing, a week ago. The Budget came in after that. So, obviously, our speeches (in NITI Aayog) will not reflect the current situation. I simply cannot accept the political biases being done towards Bengal. The approach towards Opposition parties-ruled state governments in this Budget, is condemnable. I will raise my voice in the meeting, but if I am not allowed, I will walk out,” Mamata said before leaving Kolkata for Delhi along with her nephew and Diamond Harbour MP, Abhishek Banerjee.
The Chief Minister was also critical of speeches made by BJP MP from Jharkhand’s Godda Nishikant Dubey in the Parliament yesterday over carving out a Union Territory with two districts of West Bengal, Malda and Murshidabad, and three districts of Bihar, Katihar, Arariya and Kishanganj.
Union Minister of State for Education and West Bengal unit president of the BJP Sukanta Majumdar had earlier approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with an appeal to recognise North Bengal districts as a separate entity and a part of the North East.
“The Centre is creating all sorts of blockades, be it economic, political, geographical or otherwise. They want to break and disintegrate this country. The BJP leader and ministers are all up to one job, how to destabilise the states, be it Bengal, Jharkhand or other neighbouring states of Assam and Bihar. We will not accept this and we condemn this move. It is a conspiracy that is being hatched and we will not allow it to happen,” Mamata said.
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