Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday held a virtual meeting with seven opposition chief ministers, including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, to discuss various issues like NEET examination schedule, GST compensation to states and others.
Four Congress chief ministers, including Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and his counterparts Ashok Gehlot from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel and V Narayanasamy from Puducherry, also took part in the meeting.
While interacting with the chief ministers, Gandhi said that refusal to compensate states on GST is nothing short of betrayal of states and the people by the Narendra Modi government.
She also hit out at the Centre over Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Draft. Gandhi said that the EIA legislation is “anti-democratic” and the Modi government is weakening laws meant to protect the environment and also public health.
The Congress president called for opposition to come together and fight against the Central government.
While endorsing Banerjee and Thackeray, the Congress president said, “We have to work together and fight together against the Central government,” Gandhi said at the meeting while
West Bengal CM accused the Centre of bulldozing the state governments in the name of cooperative federalism.
While attending the opposition chief ministers’ meeting, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said that we should decide whether we have to fight or fear the incumbent Central government.
