Third Front Buzz Festers As Mamata Banerjee Meets Naveen Patnaik Today
NDTV
While maintaining that regional parties are better prepared to take on the BJP in 2024, Mamata Banerjee described her meeting with Naveen Patnaik as a courtesy call.
Despite its unambiguity, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's clarification about meeting her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik later today has done little to dissuade those reading between the lines.
That's because the tete-a-tete follows one with Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister last week, in which they announced a new political front aimed squarely at cutting out the Congress and challenging the BJP in next year's national elections.
Ms Banerjee is also scheduled to meet former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Friday in Kolkata, before a possible one-on-one with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital later this month.
And so, attempts to describe the meeting between Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik as a "courtesy meeting" have not convinced political observers keeping a hawkish eye on the state that will hold elections next year as well.
