NITI Aayog's Shiv Sena snub gives ammo to Uddhav camp: ‘…crumbs thrown their way’

NITI Aayog was constituted in 2015 when the Narendra Modi government chose to scrap the 65-year-old Planning Commission.

Published on: Jul 18, 2024, 10:15:26 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Uddhav Thackeray camp continued its attack on Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena over its minister not finding a place in the reconstituted NITI Aayog. Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi Chaturvedi cited examples such as Jitan Ram Manjhi, who, despite being the only Member of Parliament from his party, was allocated cabinet minister portfolio with a special invitation to join NITI Aayog.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde with his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in Mumbai. (ANI)

Similarly, Chirag Paswan, leading a faction with five MPs, also received a cabinet minister's rank along with a special invite to NITI Ayog, Chaturvedi noted.

“HD Kumaraswamy with 2 MPs is a cabinet Minister and a special invitee in the NITI Ayog too,” the Rajya Sabha member posted on X.

“Eknath Shinde with 7 MPs gets MoS and no special invite to NITI Ayog,” she added. “When Niti is only to stay in power by hook or by crook one should be happy with crumbs thrown their way.”

Read: Shankaracharya says Uddhav Thackeray ‘victim of betrayal’: ‘…till he becomes CM again’

The reconstitution of NITI Aayog by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Tuesday saw the inclusion of four full-time members and 15 union ministers, incorporating representatives from BJP allies as ex-officio members or special invitees.

However, Union Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) Prataprao Jadhav of Shiv Sena, did not find a place in the reconstituted committee.

Read: Samvidhan Hatya Diwas: Sanjay Raut defends Emergency, says Bal Thackeray, RSS supported it

The National Institution for Transforming India, better known as 'NITI Aayog', was constituted in 2015 when the Modi government chose to scrap the 65-year-old Planning Commission.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the chairperson and economist Suman K Bery will continue to be the vice-chairperson of NITI Aayog, according to an official notification.

The special invitees in the reconstituted NITI Aayog will be Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways), Jagat Prakash Nadda (Health), H D Kumaraswamy (Heavy Industries and Steel), Jitan Ram Manjhi (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation), and Chirag Paswan, among others.

Kumaraswamy belongs to NDA partner JD-S, Manjhi is from the Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rajiv Ranjan Singh is from the JD(U), Naidu belongs to the TDP and Paswan is from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

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HT News Desk
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