Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has to be reminded that NITI Aayog is working towards taking the country forward, adding that KCR does not believe in discussion on the development of the country and the states.
The comment by the senior minister came soon after Telangana CM, through a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday said that he will be boycotting the seventh Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, scheduled to be held on August 7, as a mark of protest against in what he termed as the Centre's blatant discrimination against states including Telangana.
Rao further alleged that the Centre is not treating states as equal partners in efforts to make India a developed country.
"His views reflect that he is not interested in the development of his state, his ward. He thinks himself to be too great to attend it: Union Minister Piyush Goyal on CM Telangana KCR's refusal to attend NITI Aayog meeting," minister Goyal told ANI.
"He is forgetting that NITI Aayog is working towards taking the country forward... he doesn't want it to happen. He's become the 'nizam' of Telangana, does not believe in discussion on development of country and state."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the seventh meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre in the national capital on Sunday.
This would be the first in-person meeting of the Governing Council since July 2019.
The agenda of the meeting includes crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses and agri-communities; implementation of the National Education Policy-school education; implementation of the National Education Policy-higher education; and urban governance.
In the drive toward building a steady, sustainable and inclusive India, the seventh governing council meeting of the government think tank Niti Aayog is expected to pave the way for synergies towards a new era of collaboration and cooperation between Centre and states and union territories.
As India commemorates 75 years of Independence, it is the need of the hour for the states to be agile, resilient and self-reliant and move towards 'AatmaNirbhar Bharat' in a spirit of cooperative federalism, an official statement said.
The statement said that the meeting is particularly important as the country enters Amrit Kaal against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and in light of India hosting the G20 Presidency and summit next year. The meeting would also lay emphasis on the importance of the Presidency for India for the federal system and the role that states can play in highlighting their progress at the G-20 Platform.
The governing council comprises the Prime Minister of India; Chief Ministers of all the states and union territories with the legislature; Lt Governors of other UTs; Ex-Officio Members; Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; Full-Time Members, NITI Aayog; and Union Ministers as Special Invitees.
( With inputs from ANI )
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