'She Chose Not To Speak More': NITI Aayog CEO On Mamata Banerjee's Charge
Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, BVR Subrahmanyam, dismissed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that her microphone was muted while speaking at the NITI Aayog meeting. He clarified that each Chief Minister was given a designated speaking time, which was displayed on screens at their tables, and that the time allotted to the West Bengal Chief Minister had ended. Addressing a press conference after the NITI Aayog meeting, Mr Subrahmanyam said that the West Bengal Chief Minister requested to speak early before lunch, and "it was accepted." "The Chief Minister of West Bengal requested to be given a turn before lunchtime. I'm just putting facts on the ground, no interpretations. It was a clear request from their side because normally we would have gone alphabetically, starting with Andhra Pradesh, then Arunachal Pradesh. We adjusted, and the Defence Minister called her in just before Gujarat. So, she made her statement," he said. "Ev...