Mamata Banerjee walks out of NITI Aayog meeting, allowed only 5 minutes to speak
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of NITI Aayog's 9th Governing Council meeting on Saturday, July 27, in New Delhi. According to Banerjee, she was allowed to speak for only five minutes, which led to her departure from the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banerjee expressed her frustration to reporters, stating, "I said the central government should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but was allowed only five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes. I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting."
The meeting aims to foster participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and state governments, focusing on making India a developed nation by 2047. The council includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers, with Prime Minister Modi serving as the chairman.
Key themes discussed include access, quality, and efficiency of drinking water, electricity, health care, schooling, and land and property digitization. Recommendations from the 3rd National Conference of chief secretaries held in December last year were also reviewed.
NITI Aayog in 2023 was entrusted with preparing a vision document to help India become a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047. This document must consolidate 10 sectoral thematic visions like economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance into a combined vision for "Viksit Bharat @2047."
VIDEO | "I have come out boycotting the meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, CMs of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair. From the opposition side, only I am representing here,… pic.twitter.com/ur9hN1RsUA
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 27, 2024
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LDF fields senior CPI leader Mokeri for Wayanad LS bypoll
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Senior CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri will be the LDF candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll.
The decision was announced on Thursday by CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam.
Mokeri, a former MLA from the Nadapuram constituency in Kozhikode district, is known for his work addressing issues in the agricultural sector.
He had contested the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in 2014, significantly reducing the Congress candidate M I Shanavas's margin to around 20,000 votes.
Announcing the decision, Viswam said that Mokeri's bypoll campaign would be launched on Friday.
Describing Mokeri as a prominent leader, the CPI secretary emphasised that a farmer's leader is being fielded in the constituency at a time when the country is witnessing protests from the farming community seeking justice.
The Congress has fielded Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the Wayanad seat vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi.
A by-election became necessary after Rahul, who won the Lok Sabha polls from both Wayanad and Rae Bareli constituencies, decided to vacate the Wayanad seat in Kerala.
Following his win, Rahul chose to retain the Rae Bareli constituency and formally notified the Speaker's office of his decision to resign from Wayanad.
He vacated the Wayanad seat within 14 days of the Lok Sabha results, announced on June 4.
The Election Commission has decided to hold by-election for Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency on November 13.
