While meeting helps Patnaik maintain his anti-BJP, anti-Congress stand, Mamata burnishes her credentials as a key facilitator to opposition unity.
New Delhi: Chief ministers Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee may have held talks with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on his bid to forge a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but both regional leaders are only using the manoeuvring to showcase their own political agendas.
While Odisha CM Patnaik, who is also the Biju Janata Dal chief, wants to maintain equidistance from both the BJP and Congress, he does not want to be seen completely out of the picture in the attempts to form a federal front.
West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Banerjee, on the other hand, wants to be seen as a key facilitator of any opposition efforts to take on the BJP.
Rao, popularly known as KCR, had met Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar Sunday evening, before meeting with Banerjee in Kolkata late Monday.
“Our dialogue will continue and very shortly, we will come out with a concrete plan,” the Telangana CM told reporters after his meeting with Banerjee. “We are discussing things. I will continue with my efforts.”
Banerjee wants to be seen as a facilitator
The West Bengal chief minister, who has met a host of opposition leaders, wants to be seen as key to any united opposition alliance.
In the last two months, Banerjee has met Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and a string of other opposition leaders in Delhi to talk about helming a grand alliance to take on the BJP.
A party source said that Banerjee wants to play a “bridge” between the different factions among opposition camps, in any federal front that comes up. For instance, KCR was nowhere to be seen in any of the alliance meetings coordinated by Naidu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.
“Banerjee was part of the meetings initiated by Naidu,” said a party source. “By meeting KCR, she has sent a message that she is open to talks with TRS as well. She realises that despite differences, opposition parties have to put on a united front if they want to take on the BJP.”
On KCR’s meeting with Banerjee, TMC MP and party spokesperson Derek O’Brien said, “Mamata Banerjee is a seven-term MP and a two-term chief minister. So looking at 2019, there should be no surprise over leaders meeting her. Everyone wants to listen to her and share their thoughts with her.”
BJD wants to play safe
The BJD, on the other hand, is attempting to play it safe and not seem aligned with any of the two main political poles — the BJP or Congress. Party chief Patnaik has been cautious in cultivating this image. Appearing to be on board with the TRS plan of a non-BJP, non-Congress front further helps him strengthen it.
Sources in the BJD said this also helps the party keep its options open and gives it greater flexibility to take a decision post the Lok Sabha verdict.
“The CM has constantly maintained we are equidistant from both Congress and BJP,” said a BJD leader who did not wish to be identified. “What better way to demonstrate it than be seen as being friendly with a non-Congress, non-BJP front. While helping the BJD keep post-poll options open, it still does not make it seem completely alienated from the national scene.”
The BJP leader added that by shaking hands with KCR, Patnaik has sent out a message that he is by no means limited to his state and disinterested in national politics.
Further, sources said that given assembly elections in Odisha are due along with the Lok Sabha polls, it helps BJD portray both the BJP and Congress — the other two parties with a stake in the state — as its rivals.
KCR on a strong footing post-Telangana victory
The Telangana CM had earlier met Banerjee in Kolkata in March to discuss the possibility of a federal front. But not much had happened after that.
In June, when Banerjee met non-BJP chief ministers of three states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala — in the capital to lend support to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who was on a sit-in protest at Delhi LG’s office, KCR was missing.
In the meantime, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu began his parleys with other opposition leaders to come up with a grand alliance and took on the role of a coordinator.
“In his talks with other leaders, Naidu, however, was clear that any alliance would have to have a national party like the Congress in its fold. He met both Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi,” said a TDP source.
But with TRS getting a near clean sweep in Telangana, political analysts say that KCR is on a strong footing. “He wants to send across the message that a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance led by a regional satrap can be a possibility,” said a source. “His meetings with Patnaik and Banerjee have fuelled such speculation.”
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