There will be no representation from West Bengal at the Niti Aayog meeting scheduled to be held on 27 May in New Delhi, after the Central government rejected the state’s proposal to depute Mrs Chandrima Bhattacharya, minister of state for finance, and the state chief secretary, H K Dwivedi, to attend the meeting.
After West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee decided not to attend the Niti Aayog meeting, a communication was sent from Nabanna to the Centre proposing the names of Ms Bhattacharya and Mr Dwivedi to represent the state at the meeting.
However, a return communique has come from the Union government, stating that only chief ministers can attend the Niti Aayog meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides Miss Banerjee, two AAP chief ministers ~ Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann ~ have also announced their decision to abstain from the meeting.
Earlier this month, Miss Banerjee had said that she would attend the NITI Aayog meeting and raise urgent issues of the state. “I will be participating at the Niti Ayog meeting on May 27 in New Delhi because it is the only platform to highlight the issues of a state,” she had told reporters during a during a Press conference at Nabanna more than 10 days ago.
On Tuesday, the chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann met Miss Banerjee at Nabanna to seek support for the Delhi government’s fight against the Centre over an ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital.
Miss Banerjee had assured the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders of her party’s support against the Centre. A day later, Miss Banerjee announced her decision not to attend the Niti Aayog meeting.
The Trinamul Congress leadership has also announced that the party would boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building in New Delhi .