NB In List | 8 Opposition chief ministers "boycott" Niti Aayog meeting; Know why

New Delhi, May 27: It seems like the Opposition parties have come up with new strategy - boycott every event conducted by centre. In yet another such instance, these Opposition parties will boycott the eighth governing council meeting of Niti Aayog to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today at the new Convention Centre in New Delhi's Pragati Maidan. The theme of the meeting will be ‘Viksit Bharat @2047: Role of Team India’.

  

 

As many as eight chief ministers - Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan- decided not to attend the Niti Aayog meeting.

 

 

Arvind Kejriwal - In a letter to PM Modi, Kejriwal said he was “boycotting” the meeting in protest against the “undemocratic and unconstitutional” May 19 ordinance that restored control over services in the national capital to the Centre under the LG, effectively nullifying a Supreme Court order that handed over control of services, barring police, public order and land, to the elected government.

 

Mamata Banerjee - West Bengal will not have any representative at the Niti Aayog meeting as the TMC government's request to send the state finance minister and the chief secretary was "turned down" by the Centre, which "insisted" that Mamata Banerjee may attend the event. Banerjee has already decided not to attend the eighth governing council meeting of Niti Aayog.

 

State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said Banerjee is busy with some other work, without elaborating the reason behind skipping the meet.

 

Bhagwant Mann - The Punjab chief minister will not attend the Niti Aayog meeting to protest the alleged discrimination against the state by the Centre over the issue of grant of funds. Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said the chief minister has taken up with the Centre the demand to release Rs 3,600 crore outstanding rural development fund (RDF), but the Centre has been sitting over it.

 

MK Stalin - The Tamil Nadu chief minister is on a visit to Singapore and Japan and hence he won't be able to attend the meeting

 

Ashok Gehlot - The Rajasthan CM has cited health reasons for not attending the meeting, news agency ANI reported.

 

Pinarayi Vijayan - The Kerala chief minister has not given any specific reason for his absence.

 

K Chandrashekar Rao - The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) president and Telangana chief minister will also not attend the meeting since he has a scheduled meeting with Kejriwal in Hyderabad on Saturday. The meeting is part of a campaign by Kejriwal against the services ordinance for which he has been meeting leaders of Opposition parties asking for their support in blocking the ordinance when it comes in the form of a bill in Parliament.

 

Nitish Kumar - Senior members of the Bihar cabinet said Nitish Kumar expressed his inability to attend because of "prior commitments" and said they were yet to hear back from the Union government if someone else could take his place.