BHUBANESWAR: Even as daily slanging match between BJD and BJP leaders continued in Odisha ahead of the latter's national executive committee meeting here on April 15 and 16, chief minister Naveen Patnaik's meeting with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee today at New Delhi fuelled speculations over the emergence of an anti-BJP front before the next elections.
The chief minister met Mamata after the BJD's parliamentary party meeting was over. However, details about the meeting were not made public.
The West Bengal chief minister is not the first leader whom Naveen has met. Naveen had met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav separately here on March 7 giving rise to speculations.
Though Nitish and Sharad were in Odisha to attend the funeral of veteran socialist leader Rabi Ray, their meetings with Naveen-led to speculations about the possibility of political realignments before next elections.
Emergence of BJP as a challenge for the ruling BJD in Odisha after the panchayat polls and Naveen’s criticism of the Centre several times recently have led political observers to believe that BJD may
opt for a Bihar type experiment to keep the BJP in check.