Leaders of the opposition-ruled states did not turn up for the two-day BRICS meet held in the national capital that ended today. All Chief Ministers were invited on the occasion.
sources from Telangana and Himachal Pradesh said Chief Ministers Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had prior engagements While there was no official explanation for the Opposition Chief Ministers skipping the meet.
Chief Minister VD Satheesan of Kerala, Tamil Nadu’s Vijay, Karnataka’s DK Shivakumar, Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu skipped the meeting.
The Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states and some from INDIA Bloc, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab and Delhi governments, and Tamil Nadu’s then CHief Minister MK Stalin had decided to boycott the meeting to protest the Union budget, calling it ‘discriminatory’ towards non-NDA-ruled states. Several other leaders from the INDIA bloc –including MK Stalin — however, did attend. The Congress has also slammed the meet, questioning its achievements and the declaration, saying they fell far short of expectation. “Considering how China has occupied territories like Arunachal and Ladakh, the Prime Minister should speak bluntly and demand China’s withdrawal. Does it mention anywhere who is perpetrating terrorism globally? There is no mention of that”.
In 2023, all Congress Chief Ministers stayed away from the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi.
The lack of any mention of Arunachal, Ladakh or even the Pahalgam terror attack made it clear that it was not a “victory”, the party said. That would be the greatest benefit India could derive from this summit,” said Congress leader Nana Patole. Congress’ Rashid Alvi said: “The Delhi Declaration that has been issued condemns terrorism and the Pahalgam incident, but does it state anywhere who carried out the Pahalgam attack?
