Centre lacks 'fairness', no point attending NITI Ayog meeting: Shivakumar

Bengaluru, July 24 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday defended Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's decision to boycott the NITI Ayog Governing Council meeting scheduled in the national capital on July 27, stating that there is no point in attending the same when the Central government lacks 'fairness'.

Taking to X on Tuesday evening, Siddaramaiah said, "Despite my earnest efforts in calling for an all-party meeting of MPs in New Delhi to discuss Karnataka's essential needs, the Union Budget neglected our state's demands."

"Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also attended the meeting, has ignored the concerns of the people of Karnataka. We have decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, as a mark of protest," he added.

Commenting on the matter, Shivakumar told mediapersons on Wednesday, "The Union Budget has not done justice to Karnataka. There is no fairness in it. Since the state did not get proper representation in the Budget, the party leaders have decided to boycott the (NITI Aayog) meeting as a mark of protest."

Calling the Union Budget "discriminatory" and "dangerous", the Congress had also said on Tuesday that the party's three Chief Ministers -- Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) -- will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi on July 27.

When asked about the BJP's strong opposition to the Greater Bengaluru Bill tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, Shivakumar said, "They are playing politics on this matter. I don’t do anything in haste. I have presented the Bill. Let them thoroughly review and discuss it.

"Bengaluru is growing uncontrollably with a population of 1.40 crore. So good governance is needed here. Decisions should be made considering the infrastructure and the economic system. Let the opposition parties discuss this (Bill). We have no objection to that."

The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024, proposes to split the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) into not more than 10 city corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area.

The government maintains that the Bill has been moved to achieve effective, participatory, and responsive urban governance in the Greater Bengaluru Area. It also proposes establishing a Greater Bengaluru Authority to coordinate and supervise the development of the Greater Bengaluru Area.