Naveen Patnaik on Third Front: A day after Bihar Chief Minister met him in Bhubaneswar, Odisha CM and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. While his meeting with Nitish Kumar was seen as an attempt by the Bihar leader to forge a Third Front ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Patnaik put to rest all such assumptions after meeting PM Modi.
“There is no possibility of a Third front as far as I am concerned,” Patnaik told media persons.
“I met the PM and we discussed issues related to Odisha’s demand. I spoke for the International Airport that we have to set up in Puri, Bhubaneswar is getting too much traffic now that’s why we want an expansion. The PM said that he will definitely help in every way possible,” he added.
The Bihar CM, who snapped ties with BJP last year, vowing to defeat it in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has toured many places and met political leaders of various hues as part of his ‘opposition unity drive’. Nitish Kumar has earlier met Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal.
Patnaik, one of the longest serving CMs of any state in the country, is, like Kumar, a former BJP ally. However, he has tried to remain equidistant from the Congress and the BJP.
