West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday flew to New Delhi, where she will attend the meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog scheduled to be held on Saturday.

Miss Banerjee, speaking to mediapersons before boarding her flight to New Delhi, confirmed that she will be attending the NITI Aayog meeting.
“On one hand there is financial deprivation and on the other hand, there is a conspiracy to divide West Bengal. I will be attending the Niti Aayog Meeting to raise my voice of dissent on both these issues,” Miss Banerjee said.

Advertisement

Trinamul Congress’ all India general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee is also accompanying her.
Slamming the Centre for step-motherly treatment of Bengal and other Opposition-ruled states, Miss Banerjee said: “I cannot accept the way opposition states have been deprived in the budget. There is economic and political blockade, and I strongly condemn the plan to divide the country. Ministers are talking about dividing Bengal in Parliament! Not only that, but various sources indicate that many of their party leaders are making different statements about dividing Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and Bengal. I strongly condemn this. Dividing Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and Bengal means dividing the entire country. We do not support this.”

The chief minister said she would attend the NITI Aayog meeting to protest against the demand to divide Bengal. “I will stay at the meeting for a while. If given a chance, I will speak; otherwise, I will protest. I will speak for Bengal,” she said.
Miss Banerjee was referring to recent statements by various BJP leaders, including Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, for making north Bengal part of the North-East, or hiving off parts of the state as Union territories.

The meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog is scheduled on Saturday, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Several chief ministers from the opposition INDIA bloc have boycotted the meeting. The chief ministers of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Himachal Pradesh are expected to be absent. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren was also expected to boycott the meeting. However, Miss Banerjee said on Friday that Mr Soren might attend the meeting. She said: “As far as I know, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will also be there. We will protest together.”

Earlier, there was speculation in political circles about whether Miss Banerjee would attend the NITI Aayog meeting after most non-BJP chief ministers decided to boycott it. On Thursday, Congress leader KC Venugopal said: “I believe Mamata Banerjee will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting like the Congress and other opposition party chief ministers.” However, a Trinamul Congress source said that there was some dissatisfaction within the INDIA bloc about Congress’s “unilateral” decision to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting. If the boycott decision had been taken collectively, the whole matter could have been smoother. Additionally, it is necessary to present the facts about how Bengal is being deprived. It is also essential to raise the issue of the ongoing talk about dividing Bengal, the source said.

On Wednesday, BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar had called for including north Bengal in the North-East region for greater access to development funds. Jalpaiguri MP Jayanta Roy and Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista supported him.
The same day, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Ananta Maharaj demanded the creation of a Greater Cooch Behar Union Territory.

On Thursday, Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey, speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, advocated creating a Union Territory out of some parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal, claiming that the number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the region is on the rise. He also demanded the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in those districts.

Trinamul sees a conspiracy in this. They believe that the continuous statements by BJP leaders about the division of West Bengal indicate a specific plan by the Centre to divide Bengal. Trinamul MP Saugata Roy said, “Unable to cope politically, BJP is conspiring to weaken West Bengal by dividing it.”