Bhagwant Mann to boycott NITI Aayog meeting following INDIA bloc's decision to protest against Budget

Chandigarh, July 25

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government, while expressing solidarity with the INDIA bloc has decided that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will not attend the Niti Aayog meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27.

The decision came on Wednesday after the opposition parties claimed that the Union Budget presented on July 23 was “discriminatory” as it did not allocate enough funds for the state ruled by non-NDA parties.

AAP Punjab said Mann would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting.

Alleging discriminatory treatment towards INDIA bloc-ruled states in the budget, barring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, all INDIA bloc chief ministers have decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin first announced the boycott in Chennai. Following this, the Congress said its chief ministers, including Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhwinder Sukhu, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah and Telangana’s Revanth Reddy, would skip the meeting.

Along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan are also expected to give the meeting a miss.

However, as per reports, Mamata Banerjee and TMC’s Derek O’Brien will attend the meeting and “strongly use the platform to hold the Union government responsible” for West Bengal’s legitimate dues.