Abhijit Ray, Kolkata:Following in the footsteps of Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, chief ministers of five other states have decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting on Saturday.Chief Ministers of Telangana, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan and Karnataka, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Nitish Kumar, Bhagwant Mann, Ashok Gehlot and Siddaramaiah, also did not attend the NITI Aayog meeting. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is also absent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed ‘Developed India 2047’ with chief ministers of BJP-ruled states at the NITI Aayog meeting.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had written a letter to the Prime Minister (PM Narendra Modi) boycotting the meeting. “The cooperative federal structure is just a travesty,” he said. So, attending the NITI Aayog meeting is meaningless. Before him, the same tone was heard in Mamata Banerjee’s voice. However, he offered to send Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya as a representative. However, the NITI Aayog committee rejected it. As a result, Bengal also boycotted the meeting. This time, the list of chief ministers of non-BJP states has been extended.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had written a letter to the Prime Minister (PM Narendra Modi) boycotting the meeting. “The cooperative federal structure is just a travesty,” he said. So, attending the NITI Aayog meeting is meaningless. Before him, the same tone was heard in Mamata Banerjee’s voice. However, he offered to send Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya as a representative. However, the NITI Aayog committee rejected it. As a result, Bengal also boycotted the meeting. This time, the list of chief ministers of non-BJP states has been extended.While several Chief Ministers cited the deteriorating situation in the federal structure as the reason for the boycott, Gehlot and Siddaramaiah explained other reasons for not attending the meeting. The Rajasthan Chief Minister said he could not go to Delhi due to illness. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed that he could not attend the meeting for the swearing-in ceremony of the cabinet.
