KCR, Mamata Banerjee give a miss to NITI Aayog meeting today
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will skip the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This is the first meeting of the NITI Aayog after the BJP-led NDA formed a new government which will be attended by the all the chief ministers of the state except Telangana chief minister K Chandra Sekhar Rao and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
KCR will give a miss to the meeting to oversee the preparations for the Kaleshwaram project launch. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee termed the meeting as a 'fruitless' as it has no powers to provide financial aid to the states.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday evening and discussed the special status demand for his state, a day before the NITI Aayog meet. YS Jagan said he took an appointment with the Home Minister to try to soften PM's heart on the special category status, what we will definitely be asking for in today's meeting.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also expected to raise the demand for special status to his state. He has been pressing for the status for many years now.
To push its demand for special category status for Odisha, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is planning to join hands with the YSR Congress and the JD(U) in parliament and raise their voice unitedly."Though the idea is in a nascent stage, we are in favour of making a move with other parties in order to make an impact in Parliament," BJD Parliamentary Party leader and Puri Lok Sabha lawmaker Pinaki Mishra said.
It is learned that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has hosted a dinner for the Congress chief ministers Amarinder Singh, Bhupesh Baghel, V Narayanasamy and Ashok Gehlot have been invited. The Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states are likely to raise key farmers issues and also share the benefits of the loan waiver scheme implemented by them.