PM Modi, senior BJP veterans join NDA CMs Council meeting in Chandigarh

New Delhi: Ahead of the key assembly polls in Maharashtra, the BJP on Thursday hosted a meeting of all its key NDA partners in Chandigarh, right after the swearing-in of Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini. Prime minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting. While Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio were to lead the discussions, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was not present at the event.

BJP president JP Nadda, union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, the state’s two deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath are among the leaders attending the meeting.

Apart from that, from the BJP, the leaders who convened include Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami, Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, Bihar deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai, Manipur CM N Biren Singh, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi and Tripura CM Manik Saha.

Apart from Naidu and Pawan Kalyan, NDA leaders including Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, Meghalaya CM Conard Sangma, and Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang were present.

This is the first time in many years that the BJP is holding a meeting of NDA CMs; routine meetings of BJP CMs have taken place in the recent past. There are 13 chief ministers and 16 deputy CMs belonging to the BJP while CMs of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Nagaland and Meghalaya are from its allies, the BJP said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Deliberations in this meeting will cover a structured agenda covering national development issues. It will also discuss subjects like observance of Sanvidhan Ka Amrut Mahotsav and the Year of 50th anniversary of attempt to murder democracy,” the BJP said in a statement on Wednesday.