NITI Aayog meet; No show by Mamata, Kejriwal

Deliberating on the 15-year vision document to accelerate the economic development tops the agenda at the Niti Aayog’s governing council meeting.

New Delhi, April 23: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were among those who skipped Niti Aayog's Governing Council meet in Delhi on Sunday.

The third meeting of the council began at Rashtrapati Bhawan with the main agenda of deliberating on the 15-year Vision Document to accelerate the country's economic development.

"West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal could not come to attend the Governing Council meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan," a source said.

However, the source said that "Kejriwal sent Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to represent Delhi. The source further said a large number of chief ministers are attending the meeting because Prime Minister Narendra Modi had refused to allow their official representatives to participate in the deliberations."

The source said that "Modi had made it clear that only the chief minister or the deputy chief minister will represent their states and no other official will be allowed to participate in the meeting."

Among the opposition ruled states, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy attended the meeting.

PTI