NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday said, she will ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to scrap the Niti Ayog and restore the Planning Commission,” at the Niti Ayog governing council meeting on Saturday, since the original version of the public policy think tank was an “effective platform and Niti Ayog is a powerless body, meant only for speeches.”
Banerjee, who arrived here on Friday for the meeting, while most of the INDIA bloc parties are boycotting it, said, she will speak out for her state, as well as for the states ruled by the INDIA bloc parties, who were boycotting the Niti Ayog meeting, while speaking to the media.
The TMC chief, however, made it clear that the boycott of the Niti Ayog meeting “could have been better coordinated,” if all the parties were to skip the meeting. “Possibly because it was a late decision after the budget was presented, each state reacted on their own,” she added, when asked about her decision to attend the meeting.
Lashing out at the Narendra Modi government, Banerjee said, “Bengal and all the opposition-ruled states have been discriminated against by the Centre, as is reflected in the Union budget. That is why most states decided to boycott the meeting.”
Admitting that she was in two minds on attending the meeting, Banerjee said, “even I had thought of skipping it, so I cancelled my trip yesterday, but Abhishek (Banerjee, TMC MP and party general secretary) convinced me this morning to attend the meeting and raise our issues on the joint platform, since I had earlier decided to come for it and had prepared what to say… so I decided to speak for my state and also on behalf of all our INDIA bloc states who won’t be there.”
“They (BJP) have formed government but they don’t have people’s mandate. This is the first time after BJP came in, since 2014, they have not formed the government as a single party,” she said, adding, that because of their “compulsions” the BJP-ruled NDA has brought a “politically biased budget” which “deprives” all opposition states.
“I thought it is my duty to raise this voice at least on a common platform though I know the NITI Aayog has no financial powers. Since the NITI Aayog has been planned, I have not seen any work being done because they don’t have any power. At the Planning Commission, I found there was a system, when I attended meeting with officials, as a chief minister,” she said.
“I will raise my voice to scrap NITI Aayog, which has no powers and bring back the Planning Commission,” Banerjee said, adding that “it was a plan of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and since Independence, the Planning Commission has contributed a lot for the country,” she said.
Banerjee, who arrived here on Friday for the meeting, while most of the INDIA bloc parties are boycotting it, said, she will speak out for her state, as well as for the states ruled by the INDIA bloc parties, who were boycotting the Niti Ayog meeting, while speaking to the media.
The TMC chief, however, made it clear that the boycott of the Niti Ayog meeting “could have been better coordinated,” if all the parties were to skip the meeting. “Possibly because it was a late decision after the budget was presented, each state reacted on their own,” she added, when asked about her decision to attend the meeting.
Lashing out at the Narendra Modi government, Banerjee said, “Bengal and all the opposition-ruled states have been discriminated against by the Centre, as is reflected in the Union budget. That is why most states decided to boycott the meeting.”
Admitting that she was in two minds on attending the meeting, Banerjee said, “even I had thought of skipping it, so I cancelled my trip yesterday, but Abhishek (Banerjee, TMC MP and party general secretary) convinced me this morning to attend the meeting and raise our issues on the joint platform, since I had earlier decided to come for it and had prepared what to say… so I decided to speak for my state and also on behalf of all our INDIA bloc states who won’t be there.”
“They (BJP) have formed government but they don’t have people’s mandate. This is the first time after BJP came in, since 2014, they have not formed the government as a single party,” she said, adding, that because of their “compulsions” the BJP-ruled NDA has brought a “politically biased budget” which “deprives” all opposition states.
“I thought it is my duty to raise this voice at least on a common platform though I know the NITI Aayog has no financial powers. Since the NITI Aayog has been planned, I have not seen any work being done because they don’t have any power. At the Planning Commission, I found there was a system, when I attended meeting with officials, as a chief minister,” she said.
“I will raise my voice to scrap NITI Aayog, which has no powers and bring back the Planning Commission,” Banerjee said, adding that “it was a plan of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and since Independence, the Planning Commission has contributed a lot for the country,” she said.