BHUBANESWAR: Even as slanging match between BJD and BJP leaders continues 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 on Monday at New Delhi fuelled speculations over emergence of an anti-BJP front before the next elections.
The CM met Mamata after the BJD’s Parliamentary Party meeting. However, details about the meet were not made public.
The West Bengal CM is not the first leader whom Naveen has met. Naveen had separately met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav here on March 7.
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.