2024-07-28 02:00:24
New Delhi : The opposition is not ready to miss any opportunity to challenge the Modi government which is far from the majority. The opposition, which opposes the policies of the Modi government from Parliament to the streets and talks about the rights of the common people, has tried to give a big signal to the government and the ruling party by boycotting the meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog chaired by PM Modi on Saturday. Actually, the way the entire opposition is accusing the government of ignoring non-NDA ruled states from Parliament to the streets regarding the recent budget, the absence of the Chief Ministers of non-NDA ruled states in the NITI Aayog meeting came as a formal seal on that protest. The opposition tried to give a signal somewhere that even though there are governments of different parties in different states, the entire opposition is united on a big issue.
Stalin was the first to decide to boycott
It is noteworthy that the decision to boycott the meeting was first taken by Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin. After that, the three Congress Chief Ministers, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Telangana’s Revanth Reddy and Himachal’s Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also said that they would not participate in it. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann kept his distance, while Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan also did not come. From the opposition, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren had said that they would come, but at the last moment, Soren also did not come. While Mamata did attend, she left the meeting in the middle, accusing the government of not allowing her to speak and turning off the mike. Although Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has also kept his distance from this meeting, but a proper clarification has come from the Bihar government. The reason for his absence was said to be an important meeting, while in place of Nitish Kumar, both his deputy CMs Vijay Kumar and Samrat Chaudhary represented Bihar.
7 minutes for every CM… they were heard respectfully, Niti Aayog told every single thing on Mamta’s allegation of switching off the mic
Direct message to central government
It is noteworthy that every state has a complaint against the central government that it does not get its share of funds from the centre and its money is pending with the centre. The way the central government opened its treasury for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in this year’s budget has increased the discontent in the rest of the states. The opposition alleges that the BJP favours only its constituent parties apart from the states in which it is in power, and is accusing the rest of the states of discrimination. At the same time, the opposition has also been accusing the Modi government of ignoring cooperative federalism. In such a situation, by not joining forums like Niti Aayog, which work as an important link of federalism, the opposition has given a clear signal to the government and the ruling party. By opposing the government, the opposition parties want to send a message to the people of their state that being an opposition state, they are being ignored, but they will continue to fight for their people. These days, during the ongoing discussion on the budget in both the houses of the Parliament, all the parties of the India Alliance were seen attacking the Modi government on this line.
Mamata Banerjee’s mic was switched off? What is the truth… Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave the answer
Mamata got the support of allies
However, after Mamata Banerjee’s allegations, opposition parties raised their voice in Banerjee’s favor. DMK chief Stalin, while cornering the central government in the wake of Mamata’s allegations, wrote on social media that is this cooperative federalism? Is this the way to treat the Chief Minister? The BJP-led government at the Center should understand that opposition parties are an integral part of our democracy and should not be considered enemies. Dialogue and respect for all voices is necessary for cooperative federalism. At the same time, the Congress called the treatment meted out to Mamata Banerjee in the NITI Aayog meeting completely unacceptable.
Not only the opposition CM, Nitish Kumar also kept distance from the NITI Aayog meeting, what is the reason?
Accused of weakening federalism
Congress media in-charge Jairam Ramesh said that since its establishment ten years ago, NITI Aayog has been an attached office of the Prime Minister. It works as a drum-beating mechanism for the Prime Minister. Ramesh claimed that NITI Aayog is not strengthening cooperative federalism in any way. Its way of working has clearly been full of bias. It is not at all professional and independent. He even said that its meetings are just a sham. While AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that these people are bent on insulting the entire opposition. He told the media that Banerjee’s purpose of going to this meeting was to know the truth and he gave his statement only after knowing the truth.
Opinion: Opposition kept waiting for Nitish-Naidu’s displeasure, people of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar seemed very happy with the budget
The opposition has been protesting even before
Opposition parties keeping away from such meetings is not a new thing. During the 10 years of UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, there were many occasions when the Chief Ministers of non-Congress ruled states kept away from the NDC meetings. Prime Minister Modi himself, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, along with the then CM of Odisha Naveen Patnaik, Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Mayawati of UP and Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, had raised their voice against the NDC meeting, accusing it of ignoring cooperative federalism. GST was one of the important issues on which Narendra Modi had raised his voice against while being the Chief Minister of Gujarat.