On boycotting the Niti Aayog meeting today, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin issued a video message. He said, "...The budget presented by the Union Finance Minister seems like a vengeful act against the states and people who boycotted the BJP. She has prepared a budget to take revenge against those who voted for the INDIA bloc. The union BJP govt is disregarding Tamil Nadu continuously...".

Following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's presentation of the Union Budget on July 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to chair the ninth Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog on July 27. This meeting will focus on the ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’ document, a blueprint aimed at transforming India into a developed nation by 2047.

The Governing Council of Niti Aayog, the highest decision-making body of the organization, comprises all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers.

At least four chief ministers, including three from the Congress party, have chosen to boycott the upcoming NITI Aayog meeting in protest of what they deem a ‘discriminatory’ Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23.

Among those abstaining are Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has announced that it will hold a statewide protest on Saturday against the central budget, which it claims has betrayed the state.

The party stated that the central budget has sidelined the state, prompting protests at all district headquarters. District officials, along with MPs and MLAs, will lead the demonstrations.