After skipping PM swearing-in, Telangana CM KCR to give NITI Aayog meet a miss

KCR is one of three CMs giving the event a miss, which includes West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Punjab CM Amarinder Singh.
After skipping PM swearing-in, Telangana CM KCR to give NITI Aayog meet a miss
After skipping PM swearing-in, Telangana CM KCR to give NITI Aayog meet a miss
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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will not attend the first meeting of the NITI Aayog governing council, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. KCR had also skipped Modi's swearing-in ceremony on May 30.

KCR is reportedly busy with preparations for the launch of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, which is scheduled to be inaugurated on June 21. The Telangana Chief Minister also plans to meet Modi and extend an invitation to the inauguration but is yet to get an appointment from the Prime Minister. Having been built at a cost of about Rs 80,499 crore, the project will divert 180 TMC of water to irrigate 7.38 lakh hectares.

This is the first meeting of the NITI Aayog after the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) landslide victory in the general elections and will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

According to a statement issued by the NITI Aayog, issues like rain-water harvesting, drought situation and relief measures, transforming aspirational districts as well as security related issues with a specific focus on left wing extremism-hit districts are expected to be discussed at the meeting. 

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a vocal critic of the Modi government, refused to attend the NITI Aayog meet saying that it was "fruitless' as the body had "no financial powers".

In a three-page letter written to Modi, she said it was "useless" to attend the meet as the agenda had been fixed by the Centre without consulting the states.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who also skipped a meeting of the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is giving the NITI Aayog meet a miss too due to poor health.

YSRCP President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is considered to be close to KCR, is in New Delhi for the meeting. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, he said that he would press for Special Category Status (SCS) for his state during the NITI Aayog meeting.

IANS inputs

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