Opposition Congress and BJP today came down heavily on Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his decision not to attend the meeting of the Niti Aayog’s governing body to be held in New Delhi tomorrow.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office here has said Patnaik will not attend the meeting to be presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The sources said the Chief Minister’s Office has already sent the state’s demands through writing to the Niti Aayog. The state’s major issues included Mahanadi water dispute and special category status.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said: “This is not good for democracy that the chief minister will skip such an important meeting. For the sake of state’s interest, the CM should attend the Niti Aayog meeting and raise the state’s issue at the right forum.”
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also denounced Patnaik’s decision not to attend the Niti Aayog meeting to presided over by prime minister.
“The chief minister should raise the state’s issue at the national level. There should be no reason not to attend such an important meeting,” Pradhan said.
The state unit of BJP in a statement alleged that the chief minister has been ignoring the state’s interest for “petty politics.”
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