BJP slams CM Siddaramaiah for skipping NITI Aayog meeting, says Karnataka deserves better
Bengaluru, May 25 (PTI): Slamming Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not attending the 10th meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP on Sunday said Karnataka deserves better.
State BJP President B Y Vijayendra termed the CM's absence a deliberate withdrawal from opportunities that could shape Karnataka's future.
He accused Siddaramaiah of desperately clinging to a slipping chair and focusing more on appeasing the Congress high command.
Sources close to the Chief Minister cited a "prior engagement" in the state as the reason for Siddaramaiah skipping the meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and said he had sent his speech to be read out at the council.
They clarified that the Chief Minister did not "boycott" the meeting.
"The Congress government in Karnataka, unable to hide its complete lack of development work, keeps harping about what the Centre owes, as if blaming Delhi will somehow cover up its failures. But governance is not a blame game or a chorus of complaints; it is a shared responsibility built on cooperation and commitment to the people," Vijayendra posted on 'X'.
Noting that when Narendra Modi invites every Chief Minister for the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council to shape the shared vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047, CM Siddaramaiah chooses to skip, he said, "This isn't just one leader missing one meeting—it's a deliberate withdrawal from opportunities that could shape Karnataka's future."
"A Chief Minister desperate to cling to a slipping chair, more focused on appeasing his high command than uplifting his people, continues to place politics over progress. But can true governance ever succeed when politics is prioritised above the people?" he asked, adding that Karnataka deserves better.
Later, speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Vijayendra urged Siddaramaiah to tell the people of the state why he did not attend the NITI Aayog meeting.
"Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states like Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister M.K. Stalin attended the meeting, but, unfortunately, our CM Siddaramaiah did not. He should tell the people why he did not attend or whether he boycotted it," he said.
"This Chief Minister and government, along with its ministers and MLAs, can stage protests in Delhi against the central government, but cannot attend such an important meeting. It seems doing politics is more important to this CM than the development of the state," the state BJP chief added.
"This is an injustice to the state. Since becoming Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah has chosen a path of confrontation with the central government, which will do no good for Karnataka," he said.
Pointing out that the CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar have time to hold the government’s two-year celebration in Hosapete, attend the IPL match at Chinnaswamy Stadium, and go to Delhi to knock on the high command’s door when their chair is in trouble, BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Assembly R Ashoka said they don’t have time or interest to attend the NITI Aayog meeting, which was attended by the PM and CMs of all states.
He also noted that the CM and Deputy CM did not attend the World Economic Forum meeting held in Davos.
"Why do people like you need politics and public life? For the Congress party, politics is just about having fun and enjoying power; it has no interest or commitment to public welfare or development," Ashoka added.
The Congress government in Karnataka, unable to hide its complete lack of development work, keeps harping about what the Centre owes, as if blaming Delhi will somehow cover up its own failures. But governance is not a blame game or a chorus of complaints; it is a shared… https://t.co/NEggRp1UtS
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) May 25, 2025
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC to hear Mamata's plea against SIR on Wednesday; Bengal CM may attend proceedings
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday a plea filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Banerjee may attend the apex court on Wednesday during the crucial hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the SIR of electoral rolls in her state.
According to the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi is scheduled to hear the petitions, including those filed by Banerjee, Mostari Banu and TMC MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen.
Sources say the chief minister, who has an LLB degree, may attend court and put forth her submissions. TMC sources too corroborated the claim, saying she is likely to attend the proceedings.
On January 19, the top court passed a slew of directions, observing that the SIR process in West Bengal should be transparent and not cause inconvenience.
It directed the Election Commission (EC) to display the names of those on the "logical discrepancies" list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections will also be submitted.
Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent's name and the age difference between a voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.
Noting that 1.25 crore voters in the state figure on the "logical discrepancies" list, the CJI-led bench had directed that the offices for submitting documents and objections be set up within the panchayat bhavans or block offices and asked the West Bengal government to provide adequate manpower to the election authorities.
Banerjee had filed her petition on January 28. She has made the EC and the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer parties in the case.
The chief minister had earlier written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), urging him to halt the "arbitrary and flawed" SIR in the poll-bound state.
Sharpening her attack on the EC, Banerjee had warned that continuation of the SIR in the present form could trigger "mass disenfranchisement" and "strike at the foundations of democracy".
In a strongly worded letter, dated January 3, to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, she accused the poll panel of presiding over an "unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc" process marked by "serious irregularities, procedural violations and administrative lapses".
Earlier, O'Brien had filed an application alleging arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls in the state.
The application claimed that since the inception of the SIR process in the state, the EC has issued instructions to officers at the ground level through "informal and extra-statutory channels", such as WhatsApp messages and oral directions conveyed during video conferences, instead of issuing formal written instructions.
"The ECI cannot act arbitrarily, capriciously or dehors law, nor can it substitute legally prescribed and set procedures with ad hoc or informal mechanisms," it said.
O'Brien has filed the application in his pending petition, which has challenged the order and guidelines issued by the poll panel directing SIR in various states, including West Bengal.
The application said it was reported that in the course of SIR in West Bengal, the poll panel has created and deployed a new category described as "logical discrepancies" without any written order or guideline to "issue/decide to issue notices to 1.36 crore electors without any statutory basis".
It has also sought a direction to the poll panel to publish the final roll only after the disposal of all claims, objections and hearings.
