New Delhi, Dec 27: A miffed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday created a flutter by walking out of the National Development Council (NDC) meeting here after accusing the central government of "stifling" the voice of chief ministers belonging to opposition parties.
The government dismissed her accusations but two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministers supported her contention that the representatives from states should get more time to speak.
The 57th National Development Council (NDC) meet at Vigyan Bhawan here had a stipulated 10 minutes for each chief minister to speak but this did not go down well with the Tamil Nadu chief minister.
Jayalalithaa, who was among the first speakers, said it was humiliating to have been signalled to stop ten minutes into her speech.
"I began my speech and as the 10 minutes were up, they rang a bell. It was a big humiliation," she told reporters, adding there had been many occasions where the chief ministers spoke for over half an hour.
"Just allot 10 minutes and humiliate in this way. They need not have called us all the way to Delhi. I register my strong protest against the centre's move to stifle the voices of chief ministers who are in the opposition," she said.
