PM Narendra Modi holds meeting with chief ministers, deputy CMs of BJP-ruled states

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held deliberations with chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of BJP-ruled states over a host of issues.

The "mukhyamantri parishad" organised by the BJP at regular intervals is aimed at reviewing key schemes in states, following the best governance practices and the delivery of central government welfare initiatives.

Besides Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and J P Nadda, who is also the party president, chief ministers Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Bhajanlal Sharma (Rajasthan) and Mohan Charan Majhi (Odisha) were among the leaders who attended the first day of the two-day meeting here.

Chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Manipur and Chhattisgarh were also part of the deliberations.

The leaders at times also take stock of the political situation.

The meeting comes in the wake of the presentation of the Union budget, with the opposition targeting the government for ignoring other states at the expense of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

It is also the first meeting following the Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP's performance was underwhelming as the party lost its majority in the Lok Sabha.

Party leaders, though, added that governance issues were at the centre of the discussions at the meeting.

The last such meeting was held in February.

Earlier in the day, Modi chaired a meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council to draw blueprint of making India a developed nation by 2047 on Saturday but the meet courted controversy when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of it in a huff alleging her mike was switched off.

The meeting was boycotted by states ruled by INDIA bloc parties except West Bengal. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, an ally of BJP-led NDA, too skipped the meeting.

In his address to the ninth Governing Council meeting, Modi called upon the states to take advantage of technological and geo-political changes to make India a developed nation by 2047. He also asked the states to make policies which are conducive for attracting international investments.