West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
| Photo Credit:
ANI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed her strong disapproval over the State being wrongly shown as Bihar in a Niti Aayog report, terming it as a “grave lapse” and demanding immediate correction to rectify the document.
In a letter to Niti Aayog Vice Chairperson Suman K Berry, Banerjee said “such a grave lapse in an official document of a premier national institution is not merely a technical error but an affront to the identity and dignity of the State of West Bengal. Such a blunder in an official publication of Niti Aayog, reflects an alarming lack of diligence and respect towards the States and the Union.”
The Trinamool Congress supremo, who took to social media platform X to share the letter, demanded a clarification and an apology from the Centre’s public policy think tank.
“I am writing with deep concern and unequivocal disapproval that in the ‘summary report for the State of West Bengal’ published by Niti Aayog and available on its website, the map intended to represent the State of West Bengal has depicted the territory of Bihar in its place,” Banerjee wrote in the letter.
The West Bengal government strongly condemned this “inaccuracy” and demanded robust mechanisms to prevent such lapses in future, she added.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale also took to social media to flag how the Niti Aayog report has shown Bihar as West Bengal.
“It is pathetic that the Govt of India cannot even place West Bengal on a map. BJP has 12 MPs from Bengal including 2 Union Ministers. And yet, their government shamelessly shows Bihar as Bengal on a map,” Gokhale said in his post on X.
Addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “Bengal is not Bihar. We will not accept you and your party constantly insulting & targeting our people. We will defeat your agenda of imposing NRC on Bengal using the Election Commission.”
“If you have any shame left, you must apologise to the people of Bengal. Otherwise, this insult will haunt your party for a long long time to come,” Gokhale added.
Notably, the Prime Minister is the Chairman of Niti Aayog.
Published on July 9, 2025