Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann announced on Thursday that he will not be attending the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27.
The decision was made after opposition parties claimed that the Union Budget, presented on July 23, was "discriminatory" due to insufficient funds allocated to states governed by non-NDA parties.
Except for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, all chief ministers from the INDIA bloc have decided to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was the first to announce the boycott in Chennai.
Following this, the Congress stated that its chief ministers, including Himachal Pradesh's Sukhwinder Sukhu, Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, and Telangana's Revanth Reddy, would also skip the meeting.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan are also expected to be absent.
However, reports indicate that Mamata Banerjee and TMC's Derek O'Brien will attend the meeting and use the platform to hold “the government of India accountable for West Bengal's legitimate dues.”