Mamata Banerjee battles ‘setting’ perception

At Niti meet, chief minister lists opposition to multiple policies of Modi govt

Mamata Banerjee at the Niti Aayog governing council meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.:PTI

TT Special Correspondent   |   Calcutta   |    08.08.22  : Mamata Banerjee voiced her opposition to several policies of the Narendra Modi government in her 15-minute address to the Niti Aayog governing council in New Delhi on Sunday.

The Bengal chief minister’s critical approach, sources said, was aimed at debunking suggestions that her four-day trip to the national capital was to ensure a “setting” with the BJP government.

From expressing her reservations over the New Education Policy to sharing her concern with the runaway increase in the prices of essential items, Mamata touched upon several issues in her speech at the meeting of the Niti Aayog governing council, sources said. The meeting was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.

She also spoke on the need to ensure proper functioning of the federal structure by releasing funds for states to carry out development work.

“You can’t call it a political speech as the forum was different.… But she raised some important policy issues in the presence of the Prime Minister, his senior cabinet colleagues and several chief ministers,” said a source, claiming knowledge of the contents of Mamata’s speech.

There was no formal briefing from the Trinamul Congress on what she had spoken at the meeting.

The agenda of the governing council meeting — held first time in an off-line mode after 2019 — included achieving self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses and agri-communities, National Education Policy and crop diversification.

As the Trinamul Congress was unhappy with the Centre for not allowing Mamata to speak at the preparatory meeting of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, which was held on Saturday and addressed by the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Kerala and Odisha, there was a buzz that she might skip the Niti Aayog session.

The meeting began at 10am, and Mamata reached the venue well in advance and stayed till 1.10pm. Then, she left for the airport to catch a flight back to Calcutta.

The chief minister had indicated to her entourage on Saturday that she would leave Delhi by 2pm on Sunday, after attending the first half of the Niti Aayog meeting, in view of the forecast of a heavy rain and weather turbulence in large parts of the state from Monday.

“Although she was there for the first three hours of the meeting, she said whatever she had to as the senior-most leader of the Opposition stable,” said a source close to the chief minister.

Unlike her previous Delhi trips, Mamata didn’t address the media this time. She didn’t meet Opposition leaders either during her 72-hour stay in the capital. Some political observers linked the Bengal chief minister’s departure from the practice to two factors.

“The alleged recruitment scam in the state and the discovery of huge amounts of cash have really come as an embarrassment for the state government,” said an observer.

As Trinamul’s decision to stay away from the vice-presidential poll had been dubbed as a “setting” between Mamata and Modi by the CPM and the Congress, she chose to lie low, added the observer.

On the question of the “setting”, Trinamul sources said the party didn’t need certificates from the CPM and the Congress to establish how it had been opposing the BJP’s anti-people policies.

The fact that Mamata’s address at the Niti Aayog meeting highlighted the failures of the Centre was another proof of the party’s position, a source said. “Isn’t it a matter of shame that after so any years of the Independence, we are still far away from self-sufficiency on pulses and edible oil?” asked a Trinamul source.

“The dependence on import has made us vulnerable to external shocks,” the source added, stressing that Mamata broached those issues in her address that carried several suggestions for the Centre.

The Trinamul establishment, however, is not sure whether the Niti Aayog meeting would be able to address the concerns that Mamata raised on Sunday.

From the very beginning, Trinamul has been opposed to the creation of Niti Aayog which the BJP government set up by disbanding the Planning Commission. Trinamul always felt that Niti Aayog didn’t have the powers which the Planning Commission had.

Mamata, who had skipped several Niti Aayog meetings earlier, attended this edition to flag her concerns so that policy makers can engage in a debate, said a source.