Sharing a video of India Today TV’s prime time news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai, who was part of a show on The Lallantop on Friday, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya alleged that Sardesai was aware that Mamata Banerjee would walk out of the NITI Aayog meeting to be chaired by PM Modi on Saturday.
"This is a federal country. Tomorrow there is a NITI Aayog meeting; Opposition Chief Ministers are not going, barring Mamata Banerjee and Hemant Soren. There is speculation that they will walk out after presenting their point of view. This is dangerous and not good for democracy," Sardesai was heard saying in the video.
Watch the video here:
Malviya alleged that Mamata's move was premeditated and intended for the cameras. Criticising the Opposition, Malviya said, "It is sad to see a Chief Minister reduce serious issues of governance to theatrics."
Targeting Sardesai, Malviya added, "TMC MP Sagarika Ghosh's loudmouth husband had spilled the beans even before Mamata Banerjee could execute her plan."
BJP General Secretary (Organization) B. L. Santhosh also criticised Mamata, saying, "It is very easy to grab headlines in our country. First, say you are the only 'Opposition CM' attending the NITI Aayog meeting. Then come out and say 'I boycotted because the mic was switched off.' Now the whole day TVs will display the same. No work, no discussion. That's Didi for you."
Mamata Banerjee walked out of the meeting chaired by PM Modi, claiming she was unfairly stopped midway through her speech, despite being the sole representative of the opposition.
The government, however, rejected her claim, stating that her speaking time had ended.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin came out in support of his West Bengal counterpart, stating, "Is this Cooperative Federalism? Is this the way to treat a Chief Minister? The Union BJP government must understand that opposition parties are an integral part of our democracy and should not be treated as enemies to be silenced."
"Cooperative Federalism requires dialogue and respect for all voices," Stalin added.
Chief Ministers of the INDIA bloc—Stalin (DMK), Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M), Punjab's Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Congress's Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Jharkhand's Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha)—skipped the NITI Aayog meeting. Opposition parties have alleged that states ruled by them have been ignored in the recent Union Budget presented in the Lok Sabha.
PM Modi chaired the NITI Aayog's ninth Governing Council meeting, which focused on making India a developed country by 2047.
