'NITI only immoral power grab': Sena (UBT) leader takes dig after Shinde excluded from reshuffled NITI Aayog

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday took potshots at the rival Shiv Sena over its minister not finding a place in the reconstituted NITI Aayog.

"No place for Shinde Sena in the reconstituted NITI Ayog. When 'Niti' is only immoral power grab, can understand the exclusion," Rajya Sabha member Chaturvedi said in a post on X.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Tuesday reconstituted the NITI Aayog, with four full-time members and 15 union ministers, including from BJP allies, as either ex-officio members or special invitees.

Union Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) Prataprao Jadhav, who is also MoS in the Health Ministry, did not find a place in the reconstituted committee.

Jadhav belongs to the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, an ally of the BJP.

The Sena (UBT) has often dubbed the Shiv Sena as the party of those who have usurped power by "betraying" Uddhav Thackeray.

The National Institution for Transforming India, better known as 'NITI Aayog', was constituted in 2015 when the Modi government chose to scrap the 65-year-old Planning Commission.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the chairperson and economist Suman K Bery will continue to be the vice-chairperson of NITI Aayog, according to an official notification.

The special invitees in the reconstituted NITI Aayog will be Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways), Jagat Prakash Nadda (Health), H D Kumaraswamy (Heavy Industries and Steel), Jitan Ram Manjhi (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying).

Other special invitees are Union Ministers Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation), Jual Oram (Tribal Affairs), Annpurna Devi (Women and Child Development), Chirag Paswan (Food Processing Industries) and Rao Inderjit Singh (Statistics and Programme Implementation).

Kumaraswamy belongs to NDA partner JD-S, Manjhi is from the Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rajiv Ranjan Singh is from the JD(U), Naidu belongs to the TDP and Paswan is from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).