Mamata's allegation of 'Centre sidelining states' needs to be rectified: Congress

Congress party on Sunday said that if the allegations made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, of not providing a platform to the states to put forth their opinions are correct, then it needs to be rectified immediately.

"If the allegation of not giving notice, of not including, is correct then it's very serious and I think it needs to be looked at," Congress Leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

Singhvi further added that in a participatory democracy, states should be included for collective decision making even if they disagree with the Centre.

"Particularly democracy, participatory decision making, collective decision making means that you have to involve people even if you disagree with them. We don't know the facts but, if the allegations made are correct then it needs to be rectified. The efficacy of Aadhar cannot be undermined by such technical and other non compliances," Singhvi told ANI.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Banerjee lashed out at the Centre for not providing a platform to the states to express their opinion and even alleged that the agenda for Inter-Council meet held at Delhi was created without any consultation from states.

She further stated that schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana was implemented without holding consultations with the states, as there are around 800 panchayats in West Bengal who did not have either post office or banks and also added that that there are many people from SC and ST community who didn't' have Aadhar cards, making it difficult for them to avail benefits under Direct Benefit Transfer.