Union Minister Kumaraswamy slams K'taka CM for skipping NITI Aayog meeting

Bengaluru, July 28: Union Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy slammed Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for skipping the NITI Aayog meeting held in the national capital on Saturday, saying that the conflict with the Centre and lack of trust is not good for the state.

Speaking to media persons after attending the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi, Kumaraswamy said, "Such a lack of trust will damage the federal system. This will bring difficulties to the state. If there was a genuine intention to do good for the state, the Chief Minister would have attended the meeting and presented his views."

The Union Minister held the Congress "directly" responsible for "this lack of trust".

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the NITI Aayog meeting to discuss the goal of 'Developed India'. He presented his vision at the meeting and in my opinion, all states, including Karnataka, should have participated in the meeting," Kumaraswamy said.

He said that the absence of CMs of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand in the meeting was "not a good development".

"It is not good from the perspective of development and the welfare of the people of these states. What do they achieve by this? If there was any injustice, it should have been discussed in the meeting. What is the point of speaking from the streets?" he said.