PM Modi to chair 8th governing council meeting of Niti Aayog, Mamata Banerjee, 5 other CMs to skip

PM Narendra Modi will chair the eighth governing council meeting of Niti Aayog on Saturday. Opposition leaders, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Telangana CM Chandrashekar Rao, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, have decided to skip the meeting.  

The meeting, based on the theme 'Viksit Bharat @2047: Role of Team India', will be held at the new Convention Centre in Delhi's Pragati Maidan. 

As per the details available, PM Modi will deliberate on issues related to health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with the aim of making India a developed nation by 2047. 

In a statement, the Niti Aayog said: “Eight prominent themes will be discussed during the day-long meeting including Viksit Bharat@2047, thrust on MSMEs, infrastructure and investments, minimising compliance, women empowerment, health and nutrition, skill development and Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure.” 

“The meeting will see the participation of chief ministers/Lt Governors of all states and union territories, union ministers as ex-officio members, and the vice chairman and members of Niti Aayog,” it stated. 

"This 8th Governing Council Meeting is also being held against the backdrop of India's G20 Presidency. India's G20 motto 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' conveys its civilisational values and its vision of the role of each country in creating the future of our planet," the NITI Aayog said. 

Opposition’s absence 

Many Opposition leaders have decided to skip the Niti Ayog due to various reasons. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, in a letter to the Prime Minister on Friday, said that 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. 

“After an eight-year struggle, the people of Delhi won in the Supreme Court, and in just eight days, you overturned the Supreme Court’s order by passing an ordinance. So, if any officer of the Delhi government fails to work, the elected government chosen by the people cannot take any action. How will such a government function? It is being made completely powerless," Kejriwal said in the letter. 

Punjab CM Mann has decided to skip the meeting citing the Union government's disregard for farmer-related concerns. 

Further, West Bengal CM Banerjee announced she would skip today's Niti Aayog meeting. The reason behind Banerjee skipping the Niti Aayog meeting was not known. She is expcted to visit Khadikul village in Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal on Saturday to speak to the family members of those killed in a blast at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit. 

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

Telangana Chief Minister's office has said that CM Rao  will not be present at the meeting due to a prearranged meeting with Arvind Kejriwal in Hyderabad on Saturday. 

Tamil Nadu officials have informed that Chief Minister MK Stalin will be absent from the meeting as he is currently on a three-day visit to Singapore and Japan. 

It is anticipated that four chief ministers from the Congress party, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, will be present at the meeting. 

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