Nitish Kumar Skips NITI Aayog Meeting Amid Political Tensions

Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wasn’t at the NITI Aayog meeting held in New Delhi, stirring up some political chatter in Bihar.

This absence wasn’t a new occurrence, as JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar pointed out that Nitish has skipped these meetings before. Instead, the state was represented by Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.

Kumar explained that these two were there to make sure that Bihar’s interests were still voiced. Adding to this, he noted that four central ministers from Bihar are also part of the commission and were present at the meeting.

The NITI Aayog meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Modi, focused on the ambitious goal of making India a developed nation by 2047. This council comprises chief ministers from all states, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers.

Things got more heated when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abruptly left the meeting, claiming she felt insulted after being cut off while trying to speak. According to her, she was only given five minutes, while other chief ministers had much more time.

She voiced concerns about the central government supposedly discriminating against state governments and accused the NITI Aayog of lacking financial powers, asking for either those to be provided or for the old Planning Commission to be reinstated.

Notably, several chief ministers from the INDIA bloc, including MK Stalin from Tamil Nadu and Pinarayi Vijayan from Kerala, decided to boycott the meeting altogether. They criticized the center for a biased budget that they believed favored certain states over others, claiming it neglected those that have opposed the BJP party.