Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy and Puducherry’s V Narayansamy during a meeting with Manmohan Singh. (Express Photo)Four Congress chief ministers and Karnataka’s H D Kumaraswamy met Manmohan Singh on Saturday to discuss issues of their states which are to be taken up at the Niti Aayog meeting.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy and Puducherry’s V Narayansamy held a meeting with the former prime minister, who is also a noted economist, at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel also joined the meeting later.
Among the issues discussed were injecting life back in water bodies, fresh efforts required from the Centre in the agricultural sector and amendment in the Forest Act to bring meaningful changes and prosperity in tribal lives.
Baghel, Kumaraswamy, and Narayansamy also separately called on the prime minister on Saturday.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Nath had on Friday hosted a dinner at his residence where Gehlot, Baghel and Narayansamy were present. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh could not make it to the dinner and will to skip the Niti Aayog meeting due to health issues.
At the meeting, the chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states are expected to raise key farmer issues and also share the benefits of the loan waiver scheme implemented by them, sources said.
The five-point agenda for the meeting also includes aspirational districts programme, transforming agriculture and security related issues with special focus on left-wing extremism (LWE) districts, an official statement said.
The fifth meeting of the Niti Aayog’s Governing Council will focus on issues like the drought situation, farm distress, rainwater harvesting and preparedness for Kharif crops. The meeting with the chief ministers of all states, lieutenant governors of union territories, Union ministers and senior government officials, is the first since Modi returned to power and inducted new members into the governing body, including Amit Shah who is the Union Home Minister.
(With inputs from PTI)
