Bengaluru, 25 May

Slamming Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not attending the 10th meeting of NITI Aayog Governing Council in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP on Sunday said that Karnataka deserves better.

State BJP President BY Vijayendra termed the CM's absence as a deliberate withdrawal from opportunities that could shape Karnataka's future, as he accused Siddaramaiah of being desperate to cling to a slipping chair, and being more focused on appeasing the Congress high command.

Sources close to the CM have cited a "prior engagement" in the state as the reason for Siddaramaiah skipping the meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, and said that he had sent his speech to be read out at the council.

They had 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 PM Narendra Modi invites every Chief Minister for the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council to shape the shared vision of a Viksit Bharat at 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.