PM Modi to chair NITI Aayog meeting today: Why are INDIA bloc CMs boycotting the event. Details here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 9th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog today at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre in New Delhi. This year’s theme is ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’, focusing on making India a developed nation.

Apart from PM Modi, who is the chairperson of the NITI Aayog, other attendees of the meeting usually include chief ministers and Lieutenant Governors of states and Union Territories, Union Ministers as ex-officio members and special invitees, and the vice chairman and members of NITI Aayog.

All opposition INDIA bloc chief ministers, except Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), have, however, decided to boycott the meeting as a mark of protest against Budget 2024, which they alleged was ‘anti-federal’ in spirit and ‘extremely discriminatory’ towards non-NDA states.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh consecutive Union Budget in Parliament on July 23. The FM announced significant financial aid for Andhra Pradesh and major infrastructure projects for Bihar. N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party governs Andhra Pradesh. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) is in power. The TDP and the JD-U are allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.

Who all are boycotting?

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was the first INDIA bloc leader to announce the boycott. Following the DMK chief’s announcement, three chief ministers from the Congress party—Revanth Reddy (Telangana), Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh)—also said that they would not attend the meeting.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government was next to express solidarity with the INDIA bloc, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann deciding not to attend the NITI Aayog meeting.

Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had written to Prime Minister Modi expressing his inability to attend, had earlier delegated state Finance Minister KB Balagopal to attend in his place. But now reports say that the minister will also not be attending the meeting.

The NITI Aayog meeting comes amid the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament. The Opposition, in both the Houses, attacked the government, accusing it of presenting a ‘discriminatory’ budget that excluded the non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled States.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman, in response, rebutted to the charges accusing the opposition leaders of deliberately maligning the government, and giving a wrong impression that some states had been left out.

Mamata Banerjee to attend

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has, however, said she will attend the the meeting since it is in the interest of her state. She said she would raise the issues of all opposition-ruled states.

Suspense prevailed over whether Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren would participate in the meeting. The Congress, which is a part of the JMM-led coalition government in the state, is against the CM’s participation in the meeting, sources said.

Eight opposition chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee, skipped the last NITI Aayog’s governing council meeting held in May 2023. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then with the opposition bloc, had also skipped the meeting. Kumar switched to NDA in January this year. 

Centre-State Cooperation

The governing council meeting will discuss the Approach Paper for the Vision Document on Viksit Bharat @2047, according to a government press statement.

“The meeting aims to foster participative governance and collaboration between the centre and state governments, enhancing the quality of life for both rural and urban populations by strengthening the delivery mechanisms of government interventions. The meeting will also see detailed deliberations on the role of states in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat @2047,” the statement said.

Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state Chief Ministers have already arrived in the national capital to attend the NITI Aayog meeting.