Mamata Banerjee may skip Niti Aayog council meet chaired by PM Modi on Feb 20

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to skip the Niti Aayog's governing council meeting that will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20.

The council which is the apex body of the Centre's think tank, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories (UTs), several Union ministers, and senior government officials. PM Modi will chair the meeting where issues related to agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, and human resource development will be discussed.

"Mamata Banerjee may not attend the Niti Aayog's February 20 meeting," a senior TMC leader told PTI. 

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The TMC Supremo, who is at loggerheads with the Central government, especially ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls, had earlier skipped Niti Aayog meetings, terming it as a "fruitless" exercise, alleging that the body has "no financial power" and cannot support the state plans. 

The sixth meeting of the governing council will witness the entry of Ladakh for the first time, in addition to the participation of Jammu and Kashmir as a UT. This time, other UTs headed by administrators have also been invited to join.

The governing council meets annually and its first meeting took place on February 8, 2015. However, the council did not meet last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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WB Assembly Election 

The West Bengal Assembly with 294 seats will go to polls in April-May 2021, Trinamool holds 222 seats at present. However, BJP has made major inroads in the state in the Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats out of 42 and establishing itself as the major opposition force in the state. Recently, TMC trumped BJP in all 3 polls, but the BJP is using its booth-level strategy and has regularly dispatched its top leaders including Amit Shah and JP Nadda in the state for winning the upcoming elections. 

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