“Had No Political Discussion”, Says Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik after Meeting Nitish Kumar

Bhubaneswar: While all eyes were concentrated on the political outcome of the meeting between Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, the BJD supremo dampened all speculations by saying that both of them did not get into any discussion regarding an anti-BJP alliance.

“Ours is a known friendship, and we were colleagues many years ago. No discussion was held on any alliances today,” the Odisha Chief Minister said after the meeting.

“We had discussions for 1.5 acres of land in Puri which will be given to the Bihar Government free of cost for construction of Bihar Bhawan for tourists and pilgrims who come to Puri to visit Shree Jagannath Temple,” said Patnaik.

The JD (U) leader and Bihar CM also came up with a similar statement and said, “There was no political discussion. Our relationship is old. I used to pay him regular visits before the COVID pandemic.”

But it is interesting to note that the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD is maintaining equal distance from the BJP and the Congress. In the past BJD has however helped the BJP government in passing several Bills in the Parliament.

Nitish has been meeting his counterparts to bring together various parties to form an anti-BJP alliance for the 2024 elections. Nitish Kumar is also planning a big meeting of all Opposition Leaders in Delhi on May 18.

Nitish Kumar will tomorrow meet Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Hemant Soren. He will also meet NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Thursday.

Nitish is meeting his counterparts in various parties to form an anti-BJP alliance for the 2024 elections. He has already met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Communist leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja. Accompanied by Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the JD (U) chief held meetings with the West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) head Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.