"Boycott unfortunate...": Ravi Shankar Prasad after several chief ministers skip NITI Aayog meeting

New Delhi [India], May 27 : Launching a scathing attack on several Chief Ministers for boycotting the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday termed the move as "unfortunate".
PM Modi on Saturday chaired the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog.
While addressing a press conference, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "100 important topics are to be discussed in the NITI Aayog meeting today. NITI Aayog is an important platform for the country's development plan. This is the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog. Its boycott by some state chief ministers is unfortunate."
"Important issues are discussed in NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting, important decisions are taken and its implementation is also done on the ground. 100 issues have been fixed for the eighth Governing Council meeting. If the Chief Ministers do not come here then it means they aren't bringing the voice of the people of their state. Shouldn't they get benefits?" questioned Ravi Shankar Prasad.
"Today eight chief ministers are not coming to the Niti Aayog meeting. CM Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, CM MK Stalin of Tamil Nadu, CM K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana, CM Nitish Kumar of Bihar, CM Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and CM Bhagwant Mann of Punjab. It is being said that Ashok Gehlot is not coming due to health reasons. But there is no representation from his side. We will have to see how many other Congress chief ministers arrive," remarked the senior BJP leader.
Condemning the Opposition's protest against PM Modi, he said, "On behalf of the party, we want to raise this issue seriously. How far will you go protesting against Modi? You did not come to lay the foundation stone of the Parliament, you will not come to its inauguration. Modi ji's international popularity has increased and you are commenting on that too."
"All these opposition parties accuse us that we do not respect the institutions which are necessary for democracy. Rahul Gandhi had opposed the Supreme Court and had to apologize later, so all these parties openly criticize the important constitutional institutions of the country. NITI Aayog is a very big institution for determining the policy directive element of the country's governance," he added.
"That is why the Prime Minister presides in the Governing Council meeting and the rest are senior ministers. Chief Minister comes so that the decision can be implemented on the ground after the Chief Minister's advice and discussions with the Centre," the BJP leader noted.
Elaborating on the work done by NITI Ayog, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "I would also like to tell the impact of the decisions taken in the last seven meetings. Urban planning, capacity building, urban employment, and technology were to be promoted. For the development of infrastructure for the development of the state, today 2503 cities have implemented an online building permit system. In this budget, Rs 10000 crore is going to be spent on infrastructure, so coordination of state governments is necessary on such subjects."
"All state governments should take advantage of the presidency G20 presidency. The historical meeting happened in Kashmir," he added.