KCR to boycott NITI Aayog meeting in protest against Centre's 'discrimination' against states

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will be boycotting the 7th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7, as a mark of strong protest against the present 'discriminating' trend of the Centre towards states.

In a strong-worded letter to Modi, KCR, as Rao is known, said India as a strong nation can develop only when the states develop. Strong and economically vibrant states alone can make India a strong country, he said.

"In view of these facts I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7, 2022 and I am staying away from it as a mark of strong protest against the present trend of central government to discriminate against the states and not treating them as equal partners in our collective effort to make India a strong and developed country," Rao said in the letter narrating a host of reasons for his boycotting the meet.