New Delhi: The absence of BJP Chief Ministers, other than Shivraj Singh Chouhan, at the National Integration Council meeting drew criticism from Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Congress while the main opposition cited short notice and prior engagements as the reason.
The most notable absentee at today's NIC meeting was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
His Chhattisgarh counterpart Raman Singh and Goa CM Manohar Parrikar also kept away from the meeting held against the backdrop of communal riots in Muzaffarnagar.
"Every state has the responsibility, every Chief Minister has the responsibility and every CM should have come. There presence was very necessary.... And there was more urgency for people like Modi to have come. I don't know why he did not come. He must have some reason. But as a CM, he should have come," Shinde told reporters when asked about the absence of BJP CMs.
