Bhubaneswar: Putting at rest all speculations, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Tuesday clarified that no political discussion on any alliance took place during their meeting at Naveen Nivas here.
Responding to a question by newsmen both the Chief Ministers clarified that they did not discuss the political situation or the alliance.
Patnaik said, “We discussed land in Puri and announced that the Odisha government had granted one and a half acres of land to Bihar government free of cost to build Bihar Bhawan so that the pilgrims and people from Bihar will stay during their visit to Sri Jagannath temple.
The Odisha Chief Minister said he was very delighted to meet Nitish Kumar in Bhubaneswar with whom he had a very good relationship and they were colleagues in the Vajpayee government.
When asked by the newsmen, Nitish Kumar said he had a very good relationship with Biju babu and he used to come to Odisha very often. However, Nitish said he could not visit Odisha during the last two years due to the Covid pandemic.
Kumar further added that his relationship with Naveen is so strong that there is no need to discuss any political situation with him. He also parried a question when asked as to whether he had invited Patnaik to the proposed meeting of all non-BJP political parties in New Delhi to discuss the grand alliance.
A source said Nitish is likely to visit Mumbai to meet leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena-UBT chief and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray May 11.
Naveen Patnaik who has been maintaining equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress party also held a discussion with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee March 23 last when the latter visited Puri and met him at Naveen Nivas.
Patnaik then also clarified that he did not discuss the political situation with Mamata Banerjee and said they discussed strengthening federal structures in the country and the democratic rights of the people.
Both Mamata and Naveen told newsmen after the meeting that it was purely a courtesy call and no serious political situation was discussed during the meeting which lasted for about 15 minutes.
Patnaik had stated that it was an informal discussion and Mamata said she thanked the Odisha Chief Minister for providing two acres of land at Puri for construction of Biswa Bangla Bhawan.
UNI