The much-anticipated meeting between Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday turned out to be a damp squib, with the latter claiming that no discussion on a political alliance to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year took place.
Ahead of the meeting, there was speculation that Nitish would invite Naveen to join the proposed Opposition rally at Patna to bolster unity. However, both the leaders denied having any discussion about an alliance during the one-and-a-half-hour meeting and maintained that they met just as old friends and former colleagues.
The duo had lunch at Naveen Niwas.
Naveen told the media that the discussion revolved around land in Puri for the construction of a guest house for tourists from Bihar. Naveen said: "We are old friends and colleagues ever since the time we served in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. There was no discussion of any alliance today.”
He added: "Many tourists from Bihar come to Puri to have a darshan of Lord Jagannath. We would provide 1.5 acres of land in Puri to the Bihar government.”
Nitish said both of them shared old and strong ties. "My relationship with Biju Babu and Naveenji is very old. I used to come here frequently. I have been wanting to meet him for a long time but couldn't because of Covid.”
Asked whether they talked about an alliance, Nitish said: "No political discussions were held today. We have 'purana rishta'. You should not worry about political talks... our relationship is so deeply rooted that we need not think of politics.”
On whether he has invited Naveen to the proposed rally in Patna, Nitish said: "Why are you thinking about all these? When things take place, all of you will come to know.”
Nitish has already met Bengal chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party head Akhilesh Yadav and a number of Left leaders on forming an Opposition front.
Mamata had met Naveen in March and both the leaders had maintained that there was no political discussion. Political observers feel that Naveen, who has no aspiration to play a role at the national level, will continue to maintain his distance from both the BJP and Congress.
“Naveen is aware of the differences that still exist among the Opposition leaders at the national level. Besides, by taking a pro-Centre stance, the state has always benefitted a lot in terms of getting financial packages. The state cannot afford to ignore it when it's struggling to come out from the financial woes that it suffered during the Covid-19 crisis. The state's interest is best served when one is on good terms with the Centre,” political observer Ashutosh Mishra said.
The timely administrative and legal aid that Odisha keeps getting from the Centre might be another reason behind Naveen not supporting Nitish's move. "In 2021, the Supreme Court had ruled that there would be no Rath Yatra owing to Covid. Naveen sought the Centre's help and another petition was filed. The same apex court bench that had denied permission, allowed the Rath Yatra with some restrictions. If you do not have a good rapport with the Centre, you cannot expect such a good response," Mishra said.
Moreover, Naveen's reluctance to openly come out in support of the so-called Opposition unity, at least till the 2024 elections are over, could save his government from being exposed to an unnecessary witch-hunt by central agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.
