(MENAFN- Live Mint) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not attend the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on July 27, officials said. The 9th governing council meeting of the government think tank held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre in the national capital was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) is a key National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally in Bihar and at the Centre Bihar was, instead, represented at the meeting by deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, news agency PTI said quoting officials.
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The cause for Kumar's absence from the crucial meeting could not be known immediately, the agency report said. "This is not the first time that the CM is not attending the Nitish Aayog meeting. The CM did not attend the meeting earlier as well, and Bihar was represented by the then deputy CM. This time also both the Dy CMs went to attend the meeting," JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told PTI.
"Besides, there are four Union ministers from Bihar who are members of the Aayog and they will be present in the meeting. There is nothing to say on this," he added.
The 9th governing council meeting of the Aayog discussed the 'Vikshit Bharat@2047' document with an aim to make India a developed nation.
The council, Niti Aayog's apex body, includes all chief ministers of states, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is its chairman.
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All opposition INDIA bloc chief ministers, except Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), have, however, boycotted the meeting as a mark of protest against Budget 2024, which they alleged was 'anti-federal' in spirit and 'extremely discriminatory' towards non-NDA states.
Banerjee, however, walked out of the NITI Aayog meeting and accused of unfair treatment and discrimination. Banerjee claimed that her microphone was deliberately turned off while she was speaking and that she was prevented her from completing her speech.
(With PTI inputs)
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