Congress president Sonia Gandhi conducted a virtual meeting on Wednesday of all Congressruled chief ministers along with like-minded CMs like Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren to discuss the issues of Covid-19, NEET and JEE, and GST shares for the states.
On the matter of the NEET and JEE exams being held, the strategy proposed by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee involved approaching the Supreme Court and seeking a review petition since the exams are scheduled to happen soon. The CMs and the Congress agreed that justice should be sought on the matter as soon as possible.
Mamata Banerjee also addressed the GST issue, saying that the state had not gotten its dues back and has no money. She suggested that a delegation of leaders be formed which can represent the states regarding GST and other issues before the Prime Minister and President in Delhi. She also added that Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik may join in this plan.
After Mamta Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray took on the Modi government on the matter of how the Centre has reached out to help states during the pandemic. “We are not begging as it is our right to talk about GST compensation to states,” he said. He also added that he wants the academic year to start in January. Before leaving, the Shiv Sena leader also said that CMs should meet regularly and pledged “hum saath saath ladenge” (we will fight together).
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh also spoke about the GST matter, saying that the state has a deficit of Rs 25,000 crore and that the Attorney General has said that the Centre is under no obligation to return GST compensation to states. He also supported the idea of going to the PM regarding state issues.
Congress-ruled CMs Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot and V. Narayanasamy also supported the idea of going to court collectively for the NEET/JEE matter and representing states together before the Prime Minister and President to address the issues regarding GST and harm being caused to the federal structure in the country.
During the meeting, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel spoke about the privatization of airports and the railways too and said that CMs should come up with an “India against Privatisation” campaign. Narayanasamy opined that scheduling competitive exams can infect the aspirants during this Covid-19 pandemic. Gehlot, while speaking on GST, attacked Narendra Modi, claiming that his government is just following the agenda of the RSS. Sonia Gandhi also raised questions on the new National Education Policy and the EIA notification. Her statements were supported by Thackeray and others during the meeting.