Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (United) is a key member of the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was absent from Saturday's NITI Aayog meeting, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.
The state was represented at the meeting by deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.
This is not the first instance of Kumar's absence from the meeting, according to Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. "The Chief Minister did not attend the meeting earlier as well, and Bihar was represented by the then Deputy CM. This time also, both the Deputy CMs went to attend the meeting," Neeraj Kumar told PTI.
The JD(U), with 12 seats in the Lok Sabha (out of NDA's 293), and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (16 seats) are extremely crucial for the BJP-led central government.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of the meeting and claimed that she was unfairly stopped midway in her speech, despite being the sole representative of the opposition.
"I have come out boycotting the meeting. (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak. The chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes," she told reporters after coming out of the meeting.
