The Congress was disappointed on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not unveil an exit plan from the lockdown or a road map for economic revival at his meeting with the country’s chief ministers.

“All the states are in financial crisis. Many of us expressed strongly before the Prime Minister that a financial package was urgently needed. But the Prime Minister did not even give an assurance,” Puducherry’s Congress chief minister, V. Narayanasamy, told a media conference.

“The Prime Minister dwelt on Covid-19, (on) how to keep a distance of two yards. He did not talk of any plan for an economic revival.”

While Monday’s videoconference appeared to be an extension of the ongoing interactions between Modi and the chief ministers, the Congress seemed to have expected an exit plan given the meeting’s proximity to the lockdown’s May 3 deadline.

On Sunday, the Congress had expressed hope that the Prime Minister would announce a “National Plan”, mandatory under the National Disaster Management act.

Only nine chief ministers were allowed to speak at Monday’s meeting in keeping with a predetermined schedule. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was not among the chosen nine, didn’t attend the event.

Asked whether the meeting had served any purpose, Narayanasamy said: “You have to take a call. It’s for the people to decide, I’m not going to comment on that.”

Asked why the Congress chief ministers had not walked out of the meeting if substantive issues were not addressed and the Prime Minister failed to respond to specific demands, Narayanasamy said: “No, no this not the time to do politics.” He added: “We have to fight the crisis together. It is our duty to tell the Prime Minister what difficulties we are facing, and we are doing that.

“All the states are facing a financial crisis; the revenue collection is nil because of the lockdown. The pending money is not being released. We are helping the people according to our capacities but the Centre must extend help.”

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar raised the issue of the stranded migrant workers and students and asked the Centre to formulate a policy about them instead of leaving the matter to the states.

While many states are bringing back their students stuck in Rajasthan’s coaching hub of Kota, Bihar has attracted criticism for not doing so.

Many states have also arranged buses to bring their stranded workers from other states.

Several BJP chief ministers supported an extension of the lockdown at Monday’s meeting. Narayanasamy advocated the stated Congress position of adopting a nuanced approach, since resuming commercial and industrial activities in the unaffected areas is critical.

“The economic situation is grim. Gradually, we have to lift the lockdown,” he said.

Modi mostly listened to the suggestions while asking the chief ministers not to lower their guard and to work harder to transform the red zones in their states into green zones.

He praised Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus.