Bengal to skip Niti Aayog meet, rift with Centre to widen

The apparent Centre-West Bengal rift is only going to widen further as the Lok Sabha elections approach. Adding to the list of stand-offs between the two governments is the Niti Aayog meeting on Saturday.

In the absence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had earlier said that she would not attend the meeting, the request for Bengal’s intended representation through state’s Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and chief secretary did not get through. Under present circumstances, Bengal is not being represented at the meeting.

Talking to DH, the finance minister said that no representation of the state at the meeting in place of the chief minister has been considered.

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Chandrima said that it is usual at forums for the chief minister to be represented by authorised representatives. The apprehension could be that the state’s issues will be flagged up during the meeting. The prime minister’s objective is to know about the situation of the states and Bengal’s situation, she said.

Asked if missing the opportunity means being “deprived” as a state, the minister said that this certainly takes away an opportunity to place demands.

A major concern for the state is the freeze of central funds for public welfare schemes, the rural jobs scheme being at the forefront. Despite repeated reminders and protests, the stand-off has persisted for months.

For the Trinamool’s political opponents, it’s the lack of transparency in the expenditure on the schemes, and the renaming of schemes in the state, that have led to this situation.

The chief minister’s decision to not to attend the Niti Aayog meeting will be followed by the Trinamool’s boycott of the new Parliament building’s inauguration on May 28, along with several other political parties in the Opposition.

In Bengal, the Centre-state relations have weakened over the months, with the Trinamool and the BJP confronting each other on a daily basis.

The BJP has now kept a target of winning 35 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal in the elections next year. With such a massive victory, the party leadership claims the Trinamool will not continue in power in Bengal, for long.