BHUBANESWAR: As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has initiated efforts to forge an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the 2024 election, a possible meeting between her and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on March 23 has sparked speculations in political circles.
Mamata will arrive on a three day visit to Odisha from March 21 after meeting Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav at Kolkata on Friday. Sources said the main agenda of the meeting between the two leaders was forging an anti-BJP alliance minus the Congress.
Sources said, Mamata is scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar on March 21 evening. She will go to Puri and offer prayers at Shri Jagannath Temple on March 22. On March 23, before returning to Kolkata from Bhubaneswar, there is a possibility of her meeting Naveen here.
Though BJD sources maintained that a meeting between the two leaders is yet to be finalised, political circles are waiting for the outcome as the regional outfit in Odisha has never been a part of any anti-BJP or anti-Congress group.
The BJD has always maintained equi-distance between the two national parties taking the interest of the state into consideration.
On the other hand, Trinamool Congress has been quite vocal against BJP and wants a unity of opposition parties, its definition of opposition alliance is the unity of regional parties without Congress in the game.