The ninth governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was overshadowed by controversy on Saturday as Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the sole representative of the national Opposition at the meeting, dramatically walked out.

Banerjee alleged she was unfairly stopped midway through her speech.

The incident ignited a fierce political jaw-jaw between the Opposition and the BJP-led central government.

Mamata claims mic cut off, Centre denies

Banerjee said her microphone was switched off after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.

"This is insulting. I will not attend any further meeting," the Trinamul Congress chief said. "I have come out boycotting the meeting. [Andhra Pradesh chief minister] Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. The chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes," she told reporters after coming out of the meeting.

The government rejected her claim. The Press Information Bureau’s Factcheck handle, in a post on X, said it was "misleading" to say that Banerjee's microphone was switched off. "The clock only showed that her speaking time was over.”

A PTI report quoting unnamed sources said alphabetically, Banerjee's turn to speak would have come after lunch, but she was accommodated as the seventh speaker on an official request from the Bengal government as she had to return to Calcutta early.

‘Insulting and biased’: Mamata

Banerjee said she mentioned during the meeting that the BJP-led Centre presented a politically biased budget and asked why the Narendra Modi government was discriminating among states.

"They are politically biased. They are not giving proper attention to different states. Even the budget is a politically biased budget," she said.

"I do not have any problem with them giving special attention to some states. I asked why were they discriminating against other states. This should be reviewed. I am speaking for all the states. I said we are the ones who work while they only give directions," she added.

She also said the Niti Aayog does not have any financial powers and either it should be given those powers or the Planning Commission should be reinstated. She had made the same demand on Friday.

"I also said how the MGNREGA and [Prime Minister] Awas [Yojana] funds were halted [for Bengal] for three years. If they discriminate between their party and others, how will the country run? When they are in power, they have to take care of all," Banerjee said.

Opposition rallies behind Mamata

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin came out in support of his Bengal counterpart. In a post on X, he said: "Is this Cooperative Federalism? Is this the way to treat a Chief Minister? The Union BJP government must understand that opposition parties are an integral part of our democracy and should not be treated as enemies to be silenced. Cooperative Federalism requires dialogue and respect for all voices."

Chief ministers of the INDIA bloc -- Stalin (DMK), Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan (CPM), Punjab's Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Congress's Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Revanth Reddy (Telangana) and Jharkhand's Hemant Soren (JMM) -- skipped the Niti Aayog meeting.

Opposition parties have alleged that the states ruled by them have been ignored in the Union Budget presented recently in the Lok Sabha.

BJP, CPM hit back

The Opposition BJP in Bengal criticised Banerjee for walking out of the Niti Aayog meeting, claiming that it was a "drama" aimed at reaping political dividends.

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said it was a "weak script" prepared by Banerjee. "She was allowed due time at the Niti Aayog meeting. She did not go to the meeting for the economic benefit of the people of West Bengal but to reap political dividends and stage a drama by walking out," he claimed.

CPM Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya questioned why Banerjee attended the meeting in the first place when chief ministers of other INDIA bloc parties skipped it.

"She was aware of the consequences. And her action again gives rise to the theory that she went to Delhi to have some understanding with Narendra Modi. People will realise the pretentiousness of the entire issue," he claimed.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi slams Mamata

Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday hit out at Banerjee's "shelter" to Bangladeshis remarks, saying the Centre is firmly dealing with infiltrators and Rohingyas. He also criticised Banerjee's actions at the Niti Aayog meeting, saying the INDIA bloc is not at all an alliance as Banerjee did not offer a single seat in the state to Congress.

"Rohingya or any other infiltration, especially after we took over, we are handling without any confusion and with an iron hand, we are handling it. But you know the limitations also because from the last so many years after the 70 and 80s, these appeasements reached their peak," Joshi said.

Joshi also denied Dayanidhi Maran's remarks criticising Budget 2024-25 for allegedly failing to meet the aspirations of the middle-class people and said Tamil Nadu also got the highest devolution of funds, grant-in-aid.