PM Narendra Modi with Chief Ministers at Niti Aayog meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with the Chief Ministers of northeastern states - the reason why he missed the President's Iftar for the second time - saw poor attendance.Only three of eight chief ministers showed up for the meeting this evening.Among them was Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang, whose Nagaland People's Party is part of the BJP-led coalition.Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar of the Left too attended the meeting, as did Sikkim's Pawan Chamling of the Sikkim Democratic Front.The other chief ministers, all from Congress-ruled states, skipped the meet. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has returned home after attending Sonia Gandhi's Iftar and meeting with Rahul Gandhi earlier this week.Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has an assembly session to attend. The chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya didn't attend the Niti Aayog meeting and did not come for the evening meeting with PM Modi either.Almost a dozen chief ministers skipped the plan panel meeting; they are all from opposition parties.The prime minister had tweeted yesterday that he would meet the Chief Ministers of the northeastern states and discuss "key development projects."Cutting across the political divide, the chief ministers had wanted to meet the Prime Minister to seek clarity on special category status for North Eastern states. Such states receive 90 per cent funding from the Centre for all centrally sponsored development schemes.The meeting was cited by aides as the reason why PM Modi may not attend President Pranab Mukherjee's Iftar this evening. The prime minister did not attend last year's Iftar either.Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said to NDTV: "The prime minister humiliated the chief ministers for nearly seven months and didn't give them time. Now, just because he wants to find an excuse to skip the President's Iftar, he has given time. They must understand boycott is a legitimate form dissent in a democracy."