Mamata Banerjee may meet Odisha CM to build joint forum against BJP

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be heading to Bhubaneswar on April 18, a day after the BJP national executive meet. Even though Trinamool Congress maintains that Didi is scheduled to meet arrested party colleague and Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, sources close to the Chief Minister said she is likely to meet her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik.

Initially, there were reports of Mamata Banerjee holding a public meeting in Bhubaneswar.

However, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee issued an emergency statement on Sunday claiming that Mamata would be there to meet their ailing MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and she had no other political programme.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested on January 3 by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

Meanwhile, both the parties do not rule out the possibility of a crucial meeting between the chief ministers of two states. “Mamata Banerjee might meet our Chief Minister in Bhubaneswar. They met in the central hall in the Parliament last month and they were cordial while speaking,” said a senior leader of BJD.

“We are also not ruling out the chances of both the leaders finding a common ground to build a joint forum against BJP. Both of them have people’s support in their respective states.

Incidentally, in both the states, BJP is trying to push its agenda. So, it will be the right time if the leaders can reach a consensus,” added the senior leader.

Sources in the TMC ranks echo similar thoughts. The meeting is supposed to take forward and mature the idea of an anti-BJP alliance with “like minded parties”.