New Delhi:
Slamming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for violence during Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘Vijay Rally’ in the state, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday likened her to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“She plays the role of Kim Jong Un, that those who raise voices will be killed and no one will be allowed to take out a 'Vijay Yatra',†Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The Union Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries also came down heavily on the West Bengal Chief Minister for refusing to attend a meeting of Niti Aayog to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 15.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh: She plays the role of Kim Jong Un, that those who raise voices will be killed and no one will be allowed to take out a 'Vijay Yatra'. Janta unka ulti Ganga ka julus nikaal degi, unke shraadh ka julus nikaal degi. https://t.co/phSAxmTDMo
— ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2019
“The way in which Mamata Banerjee is governing, it seems she doesn't believe in Constitution. She doesn't consider the PM as PM. She doesn't want to come in the system. The people have decided that her countdown has begun now, people want development,†Singh said.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee refused to attend a meeting of Niti Aayog saying it is ‘fruitless’ as the body has no financial powers to support state plans.
She conveyed her decision not to attend the Niti Aayog meeting in a letter written to the prime minister.
"Given the fact that the Niti Aayog has no financial powers and the power to support state plans it is fruitless for me to attend the meeting of a body that is bereft of any financial powers," Banerjee wrote.
Her decision to skip the meeting of the top plan panel comes days after she stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony of PM Modi on May 30 citing as ‘untrue’ claims by the BJP that 54 of the party workers were murdered in political violence in Bengal.
She also suggested that focus should be shifted to the Inter-State Council (ISC) to deepen cooperative federalism and strengthen federal polity.
"The experience of last four-and-half years we had with Niti Aayog brings me back to my earlier suggestion to you that we focus on Inter-State Council constituted under Article 263 of Constitution, with appropriate modifications to enable ISC to discharge its augmented range of functions as the nodal entity of the country," she said.
"This will deepen cooperative federalism and strengthen federal polity. May I also reiterate that the National Development Council, which has been given a quiet burial, may also be subsumed within the broadened constitutional body of the Inter-State Council," the chief minister said.
PM Modi is set to chair the fifth meeting of the Niti Aayog's Governing Council on June 15 to discuss various issues regarding the country's development.
With PTI Inputs
