(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The first meeting of the newly formed NITI Aayog, on February 6, will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacting with chief ministers of all states to formulate centre-state fiscal policies, but with one likely absentee - West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
Top Trinamool Congress sources and state government officials have indicated that Banerjee will skip the meeting as a mark of protest against the NDA government dismantling the Planning Commission and replacing it with the new advisory body "unilaterally".
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Derek O'Brien, spokesperson for the TMC parliamentary party, said, "Has the BJP government really thought this out? We think not. Dismantling the Planning Commission in a big hurry without taking the states into confidence is not the way forward. So when the concept itself was introduced without consultation, why meetings now?"
Top TMC sources said that Banerjee is likely to send Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra to represent the state in the capital. However, the Chief Minister's likely move to skip the meeting does not appear to have gone down well within a section of her party and the administration.
Many within the TMC and the government feel that it would benefit the state if the CM attends the meeting. "She can take Modiji head-on if she had such strong reservations" on centre-state fiscal ties and the formation of the NITI Aayog, sources said.
Some top TMC leaders also pointed out that Banerjee "is probably the only CM to have avoided Modi so far after he became PM" over eight months ago.
When contacted for his reaction to Banerjee's likely move, Prof Anup Sinha of IIM-C said the CM could have participated in the meeting and, at the same time, registered her protest.
"Make a protest, make a statement at the Niti Aayog," Prof Sinha said. "If the state government was against the dismantling of the Planning Commission, this meeting between the PM and CMs was probably the best platform to demonstrate that. Staying away does not help," he added.
As for Dr Mitra, he is expected to seek greater devolution of economic powers to the state government, apart from a moratorium on West Bengal's debt repayment schedule.
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