Most non-BJP CMs holding home portfolios skip Centre's Chintan Shivir

New Delhi: The majority of non-BJP chief ministers in charge of their home departments skipped the Centre's 'Chintan Shivir' of all state home ministers here on Thursday. Non-BJP chief ministers with home portfolios who did not attend the meeting on Thursday included West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Bihar's Nitish Kumar, Odisha's Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu's M K Stalin, and Gujarat's Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan). Only two non-BJP chief ministers attended the conference, Punjab's Bhagwant Mann and Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, which was presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Mann is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, whereas Vijayan is a member of the CPI-M.

Congress made a decision. Tamradhwaj Sahu, the home minister of Chhattisgarh, attended the meeting, but another opposition-ruled state did not. Mohammad Mahmood Ali, Telangana's home minister, did not attend. Non-BJP states were mostly represented by cabinet ministers or ministers of state in charge of the home department, as well as senior officials. The meeting was also skipped by BJP chief ministers Basavaraj Bommai (Karnataka) and Bhupendra Patel (Gujarat). Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), N Biren Singh (Manipur), Pramod Sawant (Goa), Manik Saha (Tripura), Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), and Prem Singh Tamang are among the chief ministers attending the two-day conference, which began on Thursday (Sikkim).

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The meeting was attended by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the administrator of Chandigarh, and Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under central rule. The meeting was also attended by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Phadnavis and Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton. Both are BJP members. According to officials, the 'Chintan Shivir' will cover a wide range of internal security issues, such as combating cybercrime, ensuring women's security, and coastal security.

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(With PTI inputs)