Barring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, all the INDIA bloc chief ministers will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27. This is in protest against the Union Budget, which the opposition parties claimed was "discriminatory" as it did not allocate enough funds for the state ruled by non-NDA parties.
It was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin who first announced the boycott in Chennai. Following this, the Congress said its chief ministers including Himachal Pradesh's Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Karnataka's Siddaramaiah and Telangana's Revanth Reddy will skip the meeting. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan are also expected to give the meeting a miss.
Mamata and TMC's Derek O'Brien will attend the meeting and "strongly use the platform to hold the Union government responsible" for Bengal's legitimate dues.
"They have not given us our money. What was the point of GST then? We can’t impose taxes because they impose cess. More than Rs 1.7 lakh crore is pending but nothing is being given to us, not even a single paisa. They have asked for our statement before the meeting. So we are submitting a draft of pending due. They have asked for a written speech but whatever I will say, I will say spontaneously at the meeting," Mamata said.
This comes on the heels of Congress-led opposition's protest in and outside the Parliament complex on Wednesday.