'Don't find it useful': Telangana's KCR to skip Niti Aayog meet chaired by PM Modi

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, will not be attending the Niti Aayog meeting being chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, on Saturday, announced that he will not attend the Niti Aayog meeting on Sunday. He said that the Centre's think tank and its meetings serve "no constructive purpose" and that participating chief ministers are given "hardly a few minutes" to express their views.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the seventh governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog on Sunday. The PM’s office said that the meeting will pave the way for a new era of collaboration between the Centre and the states.

In a strongly-worded letter to PM Modi, Rao, often referred to by his initials KCR, said, "I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7, 2022 and I am staying away from it as a mark of strong protest against the present trend of Central government to discriminate against the states and not treating them as equal partners in our collective effort to make India a strong and developed country."

I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing council meeting of #NITIAYOG scheduled to be held on Aug 7th, 2022.I am saying away from it .- CM KCR garu.#Telangana pic.twitter.com/mvWlwcpJ8M

This will be the first in-person meeting of the council after July 2019 and its members include all the chief ministers. The PM is the chairperson of the government's apex policy think tank.