NDA CMs Council meeting begins in Chandigarh in presence of PM Modi, senior leaders

Chandigarh, Oct 17: Ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and close on the heels of the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir polls, the National Democratic Alliance Chief Ministers' Council meeting began here Thursday afternoon.
Chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of the BJP-led NDA are attending the conclave here to deliberate on development issues, the ‘Amrit Mahotsav' of the Constitution and the 50th anniversary year of the “attempt to murder” democracy, which is a reference to Emergency imposed in 1975.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda, who is also the BJP president, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, two Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Goa CM Pramod Sawant are attending the meeting.
The conclave started after the swearing-in ceremony of Nayab Singh Saini as the Haryana chief minister for the second consecutive term.
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.
This will be the first conclave of NDA CMs of this kind in the last many years. With the BJP and its allies set to take on opposition alliance in next month's Maharashtra and Jharkhand polls, the ruling bloc is looking to draw momentum from its Haryana win to charge at its rivals.
Besides Saini, his counterparts in Madhya Pradesh Mohan Yadav, Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland Neiphiu Rio, Uttarakhand Pushkar Dhami and Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu, Bihar Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai, Meghalaya CM Conard Sangma, Manipur CM N Biren Singh, Odisha CM, Mohan Charan Majhi, Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang and Tripura CM Manik Saha are also among those who are attending the meet.
“Deliberations in this meeting will have a structured agenda covering national development issues. It will also discuss subjects like observance of Samvidhan Ka Amrut Mahotsav and the Year of 50th anniversary of attempt to murder democracy,” the statement said.
Andhra Pradesh CM and Nagaland CM Rio will also lead discussions, it said.