Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

NEW DELHI: Four chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee , K Chandrashekhar Rao , Amarinder Singh and Jai Ram Thakur , skipped the fifth meeting of the governing council of the Niti Aayog chaired by PM Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Amarinder's stand-in Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal was refused permission by the Centre to attend the meeting on Saturday, saying only CMs could attend the session. CM Amarinder Singh had "to pull out at the last minute because of food poisoning".

All the other CMs, administrators of Union Territories as well as Jammu & Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik attended the meeting.

Bengal CM Banerjee, facing the wrath of agitating doctors in her state at present, and her Telangana counterpart Rao had also skipped Modi's swearing-in ceremony. Sources said, Rao was busy with preparations for the launch of his ambitious Rs 80,000 crore Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project. Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur was unable to attend the meeting since he is out of the country on an official tour.

