rediff.com: Naidu to go ahead with CMs' meeting

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to go ahead with Monday's meeting of chief ministers of those states aggrieved by the eleventh finance commission recommendations in spite of plea by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee not to make public their grievances.

In the run-up to the meeting, finance secretaries of 13 states, including Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat, met Sunday at Andhra Pradesh bhavan to draft a memorandum which their chief ministers will present to the prime minister.

The states are opposed to the finance commission's recommendation putting a ceiling of 37.5 per cent transfer of total central revenue to the states which they feel will go against their interest, especially those states doing well on national parameters.

Though a key ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, the Telugu Desam Party is peeved over Centre's decision to accept the recommendations without any consultation with the states.

Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad that he told the prime minister yesterday that their opposition to the finance commission's recommendations were "not a political issue but economic. The country should also know about it".

He said he was concentrating on some chief ministers including those from the south, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana.

Though chief ministers of 17 States have been invited for tomorrow's meeting, Naidu said a "majority are coming".

Naidu said he would meet Vajpayee and Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha Monday seeking "justice" to those states affected by EFC recommendations.

Asked about reports that the prime minister was not in favour of holding such a meeting, Naidu said he had explained to Vajpayee that the meeting had nothing to with politics but has only an economic agenda.

Though BJP had said its chief ministers would not be attending, Gujarat finance secretary was present at the preparatory official meeting today.

The chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are not likely to attend as they are preoccupied with the Dr Rajakumar hostage crisis and would be deputing senior ministers on their behalf.

Today's meeting was attended by principal and finance secretaries from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam and Nagaland.

Finance secretaries of Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Tripura did not attend today's meeting in spite of being invited.


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