Karnataka CM to boycott NITI Aayog meeting for 'neglecting' state in Budget

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday evening, July 23, that he will not take part in the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital on July 27. Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also announced that he will not be attending the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting.

Calling the Union Budget 2024-25 "discriminatory" and "dangerous", the Congress had also said that the party's Chief Ministers -- Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) -- will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi on July 27.

Siddaramaiah said, "Despite my earnest efforts in calling for an all-party meeting of MPs in New Delhi to discuss Karnataka's essential needs, the Union Budget neglected our state's demands. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also attended the meeting, has ignored the concerns of the people of Karnataka. We don't feel Kannadigas are being heard, and hence there is no point in attending the NITI Aayog meeting."

He further added, "We have decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27 as a mark of protest." The Chief Minister said that even the farmers' demands to approve the Mekedatu and Mahadayi projects have been ignored.

"There was no attempt to rectify their sin of reducing funds to our state under various categories. Funds for Metro and other infra projects are still a distant dream. The Prime Minister is unable to look at states other than Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. We hope the people of our state stand with us in our fight for justice," the Chief Minister added.