Chief Minister of Bihar and JDU chief Nitish Kumar The campaign of opposition unity against the BJP has suffered a major setback. Please tell that these days Nitish Kumar is meeting the Chief Ministers of different states. In this episode, BJD President and Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik Also met on Wednesday. But barely 48 hours after the meeting with Nitish Kumar, he made a big statement. Naveen Patnaik said that at present there is no possibility of third front.
The big thing in this is that after meeting CM Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Thursday. At the same time, soon after this, many meanings of his statement are coming out.
#WATCH , Delhi: There is no possibility of a Third front as far as I am concerned: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik after his meeting with PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/dRr1fxsiYm
— ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2023
Also read: Patnaik could not be convinced! Now Nitish came out to help Soren
Equal distance from BJP and Congress
In fact, the BJD is unlikely to change its policy of maintaining equidistance from the BJP and the Congress at least before the 2024 general and assembly elections. The Chief Minister of Odisha on Thursday reaffirmed his party’s policy of contesting elections on its own without any national ambition. Asked whether his party would go it alone in the upcoming elections, Patnaik said it has always been his party’s principle.
Naveen Patnaik has been in power since 2000
Please tell that Naveen Patnaik (76) is very popular among the voters of Odisha. This can also be gauged from the fact that he has been in power since March 2000. That is why the main opposition leaders are contacting him for an alliance to surround the Narendra Modi government. Currently Naveen Patnaik’s party BJD has 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha and eight in the Rajya Sabha.
read this also: Dull in Odisha but grand reception in Jharkhand, CM Nitish met Soren
Mamta Banerjee also met
Before Nitish, West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also met Naveen at his residence on 23 March. After meeting with both Mamata and Nitish, Naveen dismissed speculations of any political alliance in future.
Discussion with PM Modi on issues related to Odisha
Regarding his meeting with the PM, Naveen said that they discussed issues related to the demands of Odisha. I talked to him about the Shree Jagannath International Airport, which is being set up in Puri. The boundary for the airport is already set. But we want to expand it because there is a lot of traffic coming in Bhubaneswar now. The PM said that he would definitely provide all possible help.
Had broken ties with BJP in 2009
According to information, Naveen Patnaik entered politics on April 17, 1997 after the death of his father and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik. In the same year, on December 26, he formed his own party BJD (Biju Janata Dal) and formed an alliance with BJP. The BJD-BJP alliance came to power in Odisha in March 2000. Subsequently, before the 2009 general and assembly elections, Naveen parted ways with the BJP. Also announced the policy of maintaining equal distance from both BJP and Congress.
read this also: RCP Singh joined BJP, left JDU after rebelling against Nitish
CM Patnaik with NDA government on many issues
Please tell that CM Pattanak was seen standing with the NDA government on many issues. The BJD also supported the Rajya Sabha candidature of bureaucrat-turned-politician Ashwini Vaishnav in June 2019, when the BJP fielded her despite not having the numbers. At a time when the BJP had replaced the Congress as the main opposition party in Odisha. On the other hand, Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union minister and the most prominent face of BJP in Odisha, has also been very vocal against the new government on law and order.
BJP will continue to fight against BJD
Naveen last met PM Modi on May 30, 2022, a month before the presidential election in New Delhi and described it as a courtesy call. Despite Thursday’s meeting between Patnaik and Modi, a senior BJP leader in Odisha said on condition of anonymity that his party would continue its fight against the BJD government to regain power in Odisha.