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
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
