Ahead of NITI Aayog's governing council meeting on Saturday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that the autonomous think tank, first established under the present NDA government, should be scrapped and the Planning Commission should be brought back.
She was speaking in the national capital ahead of her scheduled participation in the NITI Aayog's meeting, while her other INDIA bloc allies have decided to skip it. Primarily, during an interaction with the media, the TMC supremo explained the reason behind her decision to attend the meet.
"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," she said.
"Since the NITI Aayog was planned, I have not seen a single work being done because they don't have any power. Earlier, there was a Planning Commission. As a chief minister at that time, I saw there was a system," she added.
Significantly, the West Bengal CM in her series of statements from Delhi also elaborated on her demand to bring back the Planning Commission.
She asserted that under the Planning Commission, the state governments used to have the power to discuss their issues, but now there's no hope and no scope.
"I will raise my voice that we should stop this NITI Aayog. They do not have any financial implications. They cannot do anything, only hold meetings once a year to show their face. Please bring back the Planning Commission again," Banerjee said.
"It was a plan of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and since Independence, the Planning Commission has worked a lot for the country," she added.
Meanwhile, the TMC supremo also slammed the Centre for bringing a "politically very biased budget." She said that because of their "compulsions," the BJP-ruled NDA has brought a "politically very biased budget" which "deprives" all opposition states.
About 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog
Moreover, it is pertinent to note that controversy continues to brew over the governing council meet to be chaired by PM Modi as several INDIA bloc CMs have announced they will skip the meet as a mark of protest against the Union budget which, they alleged, was "anti-federal" in spirit and "extremely discriminatory" towards their states.
Significantly, the CMs who will be missing the meeting include Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, and all three Congress chief ministers – Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy.
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