Puducherry Chief Minister Rangasamy skips NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi

Puducherry CM Rangasamy skips NITI Aayog meeting chaired by PM Modi, citing budget session preparations as reason.

Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, who is heading the National Democratic Alliance government in Puducherry, has skipped the meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog held in New Delhi on Saturday.

The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was convened with the agenda to discuss the Central government’s plan to make India a developed nation by 2047.

While Chief Ministers of States ruled by the BJP and its alliance partners are attending the meeting, several CMs of Opposition ruled States have announced their decision to skip the meeting to protest against the alleged neglect in the Union Budget to non-NDA governments.

Mr. Rangasamy’s All India N R Congress is running a coalition government with BJP in Puducherry after the 2021 Assembly elections. “He is not attending the meeting because of his commitments towards preparations for the budget session of the Assembly. The Assembly session is set to start on July 31 and the annual budget will have to be presented on August 2. Presentation of the budget is his responsibility as he is also the Finance Minister. There is no political issue involved for his absence from the NITI Aayog meeting,” said a ruling party member.

The Chief Minister had also skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he came to power for the third time. His decision not to attend the meeting is being attributed by Opposition parties to the loss the BJP suffered in the Puducherry Lok Sabha seat. BJP leader and Home Minister A. Namassivayam lost the seat to Congress’s V. Vaithilingam by a margin of around 1. 37 lakh votes.

According to a BJP leader, there is no rift between the alliance partners as was evident in the clearance given for the outlay fixed by the Chief Minister. Also, the long pending issue of re-opening of ration shops has been settled with government initiating steps to procure rice for distribution through Public Distribution System outlets, he said.

“Maybe, the Chief Minister feels little bit embarrassed to meet the BJP top brass as our candidate for Lok Sabha seat was more or less, his choice. But we could not win the seat. That could be the only reason. Otherwise administration is going smooth. Our UT in-charge Nirmal Kumar Surana has clarified that the alliance will continue even after the next Assembly polls,” the BJP leader said.