Mamata, KCR to not attend NITI Aayog meeting

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is involved in a bitter fight with BJP and the Centre, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh skipped the NITI Aayog convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

These leaders had also skipped Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony last month.

Banerjee, in a letter to Modi last week, had said she would not be attending the Niti Ayog meeting as it would be "fruitless" while Amarinder Singh is said to be unwell.

She said that NITI Ayog has no financial powers to support the state-run schemes and it is fruitless for her to attend the meeting.

"Given the fact that the NITI Ayog has no financial powers and the power to support State Plans, it is fruitless for me to attend the meeting of a body that is bereft of any financial powers," the letter reads.

Prime Minister Modi will today chair the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The council, which includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials, reviews the action taken on the agenda items of the previous meeting and deliberates upon the future developmental priorities.