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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Friday after arriving in New Delhi to attend the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27.
The meeting took place at the residence of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convenor. The Chief Minister's Office shared pictures of the meeting. Speaking to ANI, Raghav Chadha said that Mamata Banerjee expressed her concern about the health of the Delhi CM. "West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee visited the residence of CM Arvind Kejriwal to meet his wife and parents. She was concerned about the health of Arvind Kejriwal and conveyed that, in this hour of struggle, she stands with AAP and Arvind Kejriwal," he mentioned. Earlier, before leaving for Delhi on Friday, Mamata Banerjee said she would be protesting against the political discrimination meted out to Bengal at the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi on Saturday, July 27. "I will protest against the political discrimination being done to Bengal in the NITI Aayog meeting. The budget has discriminated against Bengal and other opposition states, and we can't agree to thatt," she added. She further stated that Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) ministers and leaders aim to divide Bengal while imposing economic and geographical blockades on the state. "The attitude of BJP ministers and leaders is such that they want to divide Bengal. Along with the economic blockade, they also want to impose a geographical blockade. The Minister said this while Parliament was in session. Different leaders are making statements to divide Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, and Bengal. We strongly condemn this attitude," she said. This move by the West Bengal CM came as a surprise after most Chief Ministers of opposition-led states had said they would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Saturday. On Wednesday, Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced that their governments would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting in protest against the central government's alleged injustice to their states in the allocation of funds in the 2024 Union Budget. The Prime Minister is the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog. Other attendees will include Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors of States and Union Territories, Union Ministers as Ex-officio Members and Special Invitees, and the Vice Chairman and Members of NITI Aayog. (ANI)
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