Bengal opposition slams Mamata for skipping NITI Aayog meet

Kolkata, Feb 8 (IANS) Opposition parties in West Bengal Sunday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "undermining" and "jeopardising" the welfare of the state by skipping the first meeting of NITI Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) all have criticised Banerjee's "narrow minded" politics.

"Under the federal structure, states will have to go to the Centre and cooperate to get their due. It's her dichotomy that on the one hand, she whines about neglect by the Centre and, on the other, refuses to cooperate with it," Congress state unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

"The chief minister's dictatorial attitude and narrow mindedness is harming Bengal. Much like the Left Front, the Trinamool's dogmatic politics is making Bengal pay.

"The Congress too has numerous grievances against the Centre and we are fighting for them but that does not mean we will not participate in anything where the Centre is involved," added Chowdhury.

BJP state unit president Rahul Sinha said Banerjee's stubbornness was only harming West Bengal.

"By skipping the meet, she has jeopardised West Bengal's development and welfare. Banerjee has been carrying a stubborn attitude against the Centre but her stubbornness will not affect Prime Minister Modi... the only one to suffer will be Bengal," said Sinha.

CPI-M leader Md. Salim said: "Our chief minister does not believe in planning or planning-based development. She believes in hosting festivals and loves being surrounded by actors and film stars.

"So when other states are making their voices heard, she has comfortably chosen to ignore," Salim added.

Chairing the meeting, Modi asked chief ministers to forge a model of "cooperative federalism" so that the central and the state governments can resolve their differences and chart a common course to "progress and prosperity".