Three Oppn CMs, two NDA allies give Niti Aayog meeting a skip

THREE Chief Ministers from Opposition states and two NDA allies were absent from the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog held in New Delhi chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

- PREETHA NAIR @ New Delhi

The Opposition CMs who gave a miss include West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

From the NDA camp, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Puducherry CM N Rangasamy were conspicuous by their absence. The absence of JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar, a crucial ally of the NDA government sparked speculation and criticism from Congress party and RJD, who termed it as indicative of a deeper political message.

"Bihar is neither in autopilot nor in pilot mode. We keep hearing daily about incidents of loot and murder. In such a situation, the CM not attending a key national development meeting is troubling," said RJD leader Manoj Jha.