Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged chief ministers at the Niti Aayog meeting on Sunday, to forge a model of cooperative federalism where the Centre and states come together to chart a common course to progress and prosperity with a focus on growth, investment and job creation.

That's what you have read about. What you haven't read about, is what happened inside the meeting.

Not a single chief secretary was allowed inside the meeting to assist their chief ministers.

Quite naturally, the CMs who attended the meeting were upset with the PMO.

So, when the finance commission was being discussed at the meeting, the strict instructions from the PMO not to allow an aide in the conference, created confusion.

Few CMs who were not that familiar with the state presentation of policy to the Finance Commission left the meeting and walked up to the reception at the Prime Minister's House to meet his Chief Secretary to get answers.

The babus who had been stopped outside the the meeting venue were upset. They fumed and demanded to know why senior officials who had at least 30 years of experience were told to sit at the reception like doormats. SPG officials kept mum, since they really couldn't be seen as commiserating with the chief secretaries. A chief secretary was heard commenting that the PMO has not even bothered to be courteous to inform them earlier.
 
So, what happened was this: For three hours on Sunday, these chief secretaries waited at the main reception at the 7 RCR reading newspapers kept in the rooms. (We know what they read -- the Delhi exit polls, of course)

PMO officials should step back and bring about a mid-course correction, it has been observed. They should brief PM Narendra Modi or from the next meeting these officials will not be allowed to accompany the CMs even to 7RCR.

This is not the first occasion that this behaviour of the PMO has been observed.

A chief minister who is not familiar with Hindi even thought of walking out of the meeting. But his political direction from the party was to remain calm.
 
An official letter from the Chief Minister to the PM is likely to be despatched to express their protest.

Tamil Nadu CM O Pannerselvam, Odisha CM Navin Patnaik, Karnataka CM Siddharamaiah and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandraababu Naidu -- in fact almost every CM at the meet -- were upset that their aides were not present.

It is these aides who have the facts and figures with them, so when the turn of a particular Congress Chief Minister came to answer a question posed to him, the response generally was, 'Let me ask my Chief Secretary. I do not have a proper agenda paper before me.'

Watch this space.