After Mamata flags ‘grave lapse’, NITI Aayog corrects map showing Bihar as Bengal

Kolkata: After Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the use of Bihar’s map in place of West Bengal’s in a NITI Aayog “Summary Report” meant for Bengal and demanded both an apology and immediate correction, the erroneous report was swiftly withdrawn and replaced with a corrected version.

The error where the state of Bihar was shown as Bengal sent shockwaves across the state and hurt the sentiments of every Bengali, the ruling Trinamool Congress had claimed. Banerjee wrote to the NITI Aayog vice-chairman Suman Bery, on Wednesday, for incorrectly labelling Bihar as Bengal in the map used as the cover page for the panel’s summary report. Raising concerns about the credibility of the institution, the Chief Minister in her letter had also sought an apology for this “grave lapse”. Banerjee had raised concerns about the credibility

of the institution. “This raises legitimate concerns about the rigour and reliability of the institution’s work, which policymakers and citizens alike depend upon,” she had written.

Trinamool Congress leaders alleged the Central government’s negligence and pointed to their consistent pattern of insulting Bengal for political gains.

They pointed out that during the 9th Governing Council Meeting in July 2024, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s microphone was allegedly muted mid-speech as she raised critical issues related to central funding and federal fairness.