In Nitish Opp outreach tour, next halt Naveen Niwas in Odisha

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee had called on Naveen Patnaik; BJD, however, unlikely to change its "neutral" stand

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar (left) and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. (PTI/File)

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In his effort to unite the Opposition parties ahead of the next year’s general election, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar is scheduled to meet his Odisha counterpart and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on May 9, said official sources in the Chief Minister’s Office in Bhubaneswar.

Though the detailed agenda of the meeting is yet to be known, sources said the meeting will take place for around 30 minutes at Naveen Niwas, the residence of the Odisha Chief Minister.

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BJD sources said the meeting between the Odisha and Bihar Chief Ministers will be a part of Nitish’s outreach to the Opposition leaders to bring them under one platform.

“Since the BJD is a strong regional party having considerable strength in Parliament as well as in Odisha, the Bihar Chief Minister will meet him to discuss the future political roadmap. It’s up to Naveen babu whether to join any alliance or to stay neutral,” said a senior BJD leader without wishing to be named.

Nitish has earlier on several occasions met Naveen at the latter’s residence.

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The Naveen Patnaik-led party that has 12 MPs in Lok Sabha and eight members in Rajya Sabha has so far not tilted either towards the BJP-led NDA government or Congress-led UPA. The regional party, however, has extended its support to the NDA government on several occasions — while passing crucial legislations, presidential election and other national issues.

Since the JD(U) chief had met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on April 12 before starting his tour to different states for Opposition unity, sources said the BJD is unlikely to change its existing stand.

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“As stated by our leader, we are more concerned about the interest of Odisha. Our concern is always to strengthen the federal structure of the country. We don’t have any national ambition. At times, we extend only issue-based support to the government at the Centre,” the BJD leader maintained.

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The Bihar Chief Minister has so far met AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and prominent Left leaders —CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja.

On March 23, Banerjee had called on Naveen at his residence during her visit to the state. Both the leaders, however, termed it as a “courtesy call” saying there was no in-depth discussion at all about serious political matters. Both Patnaik and Banerjee emphasised on strengthening the federal structure of the country.