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Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik's meeting is billed as a 'courtesy meeting'. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik today, renewing rumors that the Trinamool leader is spearheading an initiative to forge an alliance of regional parties against the BJP. The meeting is gaining momentum following Ms Banerjee's recent interaction with Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav in Kolkata, where they agreed to keep both Congress and the BJP at arm's length.
Mamata Banerjee will also meet former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S)HD leader Kumaraswamy in Kolkata on Friday. She is also likely to meet Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi later this month during her protest against what she calls “the injustice and denial of funds in Bengal” and the “dictatorial attitude of the union government”.
The meeting between Mamata Banerjee and Biju Janata Dal leader Naveen Patnaik is being billed as a "courtesy meeting" but political observers say there is more to it as Odisha is going to the polls in the 2024 general election. sources add that Mamata Banerjee is keen to get Naveen Patnaik on board, in what regional parties describe as a "governance platform" to shed the baggage that comes with forming the "Third Front".
The opposition leaders of the regional parties are willing to establish what they describe as a platform of government of the chief ministers of the regional parties and are strictly opposed to calling it a "third front" which has political implications in the context of the 2024 elections. Political experts say that "The Third Front nomenclature automatically places regional parties behind Congress and is something they want to avoid in terms of perception.
While arguing that regional parties are better prepared to face the BJP in 2024, Mamata Banerjee described her meeting with Naveen Patnaik as a courtesy call, as she was unable to honor her invitation during the hockey World Cup earlier of this year. “It is not a matter of united opposition or anything. It is courtesy meeting and personal meeting because there was a program in Odisha and Naveen ji sent ministers to invite me. I told him that whenever I go to Odisha, I will find him. Kumaraswamy ji also wanted to meet me and will come to meet me at my residence on Friday."
Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose government has had similar problems with the BJP, said he plans to meet in April as a scheduled meeting of opposition chief ministers from regional parties could not take place due to Assembly sessions underway in several states. "We, the eight prime ministers, will go to each other's states. We will learn from each other in the areas where we have done well. This is a governance platform, not a platform, a political form," he said.
Regional parties believe that a "governance platform" to confront the BJP could also produce political results. Sources say that in the coming days, more such meetings are scheduled to confront the BJP on governance issues in the federal structure and politically in 2024.
