If the reports coming from Bhubaneshwar are to be believed, Biju Janata Dal president and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik did not evince much interest in the formation of federal front of regional parties at the national level, as proposed by Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
According to sources, it was KCR who had called Patnaik and sought his appointment to meet him in Bhubaneshwar.
“When the chief minister of a state wants to meet another chief minister, he will definitely be welcomed. That is what Naveen Patnaik did. He not only welcomed KCR, but also offered him a night stay at the CM’s official residence,” sources in Bhubaneshwar said.
During the hour-long meeting, KCR explained the concept of federal front to Patnaik.
“In fact, KCR was requesting the Odisha chief minister not to entertain his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu who is making efforts to stitch together an anti-BJP front. He told him, if the regional parties can come together, they would have a greater lobbying with the BJP, which is most likely to emerge as the single largest party,” sources said.
However, Patnaik reportedly told KCR that he did not have much interest in the national politics at present and his whole objective is to come to power in the state assembly and win good number of MP seats.
“I will consider about my stand in national politics only after the Lok Sabha elections,” he is learnt to have said to KCR.
The Telangana chief minister told Patnaik that they could have another round of talks at a later stage, after watching the political developments in the coming days.
