'He's become the nizam....': BJP hits out at KCR for boycotting NITI Ayog meet

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday lashed out at Telangana Chief Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp critic KCR after he announced that he will be boycotting the Centre’s NITI Ayog meeting. Hitting out at KCR for his strong-worded letter to the prime minister, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that his views on the meeting have made it clear that he is not interested in the development of his country or state, ANI reported. The retort came as KCR, in a harsh letter to PM Modi, said that the NITI Ayog meeting will not be useful as it does not focus on the development of the state. KCR also accused PM Modi of not doing enough for the welfare of the Indian states.

“His views reflect that he is not interested in the development of his state, his ward. He thinks himself to be too great to attend it,” ANI quoted Piyush Goyal as saying on CM Telangana KCR's refusal to attend the NITI Aayog meeting

Schooling the Telangana CM on the functions of NITI Ayog, Goyal further added, “He is forgetting that NITI Aayog is working towards taking the country forward and he doesn't want it to happen. He's become the 'nizam' of Telangana, does not believe in discussion on the development of country and state.”

KCR’s strong-worded letter to PM Modi

KCR, who has recently turned hostile towards the Modi govt and is planning to create a joint opposition to challenge PM Modi and his party, wrote a sharp letter to the prime minister and stated his reasons to boycott the NITI Ayog meeting scheduled to be held on August 7.

Rao alleged that the Centre is not treating states as equal partners in efforts to make India a developed country.

In the letter, Chief Minister Rao on Saturday stated, "I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7 and I am staying away from it as a mark of strong protest against the present trend of the Central Govt to discriminate against the states and not treating them as equal partners in our collective efforts to make India a strong and developed country."

"NITI Aayog was started as a new institution with the lofty objective of bringing the states on the same page with the Centre for ensuring the equitable development of our country in the true spirit of cooperative federalism," stated the letter.