PM Modi Chairs NITI Aayog Meet, Mamata, KCR, Kejriwal Among 8 CMs To Give It A Miss

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing the 8th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in Delhi.

The 8th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun in the national capital. Discussions will be held on a variety of subjects, including health, skill development, women empowerment, and infrastructure development, with the goal of making India a developed nation by 2047. The apex body of NITI Aayog is the council, which includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and various Union ministers. NITI Aayog is chaired by Modi, news agency PTI reported.

According to ANI, seven Chief ministers- Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, Bhagwant Mann of Punjab, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Nitish Kumar of Bihar and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala did not attend the meeting of the Niti Aayog. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is on a visit to Japan and Singapore, was also not present at today's meeting. 

Kejriwal in his letter to PM Modi stated that he will boycott the meeting in protest against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi.

In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, he remarked that the objectives of NITI Aayog are to create a vision of India and promote cooperative federalism but democracy has been "attacked" in the last few years by the Modi government.

"The way democracy has been attacked in the last few years, non-BJP governments are being toppled, broken up or not allowed to work, this is neither our vision of India nor cooperative federalism," the letter, originally written in Hindi, states.

"For the last few years, a message is being given across the country - if people form a government of a non-BJP party in any state, it will not be tolerated," Kejriwal claimed.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also skipped the meet saying there was 'no sense' in it. "What was the need for a new Parliament? The earlier building was a historic one. I have repeatedly said that the people in power will change the history of this country. There was no sense to attend the NITI Aayog meeting today and also the inauguration of the new Parliament building tomorrow," he told reporters.

Earlier in an official statement, the Aayog said, "NITI Aayog will be organising its 8th Governing Council Meeting on the theme of 'Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Role of Team India' on May 27, 2023."

According to the statement, India, the world's fifth-biggest economy and most populous country is at a point in its economic development trajectory where it may achieve rapid growth over the next 25 years.

According to the statement, the 8th Governing Council Meeting gives a chance to build a blueprint for Viksit Bharat by 2047 in which the Centre and states may collaborate as Team India.