Mamata To Meet JD(S) Chief Kumaraswamy Today Amid Buzz Of New Anti-BJP Front For 2024 Elections

Kumaraswamy had attended the meeting of opposition parties convened by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in January 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that year.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy.

New Delhi: Amid speculations over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading an initiative to forge an alliance of Opposition regional parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo is set to meet JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday.

The meeting comes after Banerjee met her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Thursday and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav at her Kolkata residence a week back.

According to a report by news agency PTI, the meeting will be held at Mamata Banerjee's residence in Bhawanipore at 4pm on Friday.

"The two leaders will discuss the present political situation in the country and the way forward to fight and defeat BJP in 2024 (general election),” a TMC source said on condition of anonymity.

It is to be noted that Kumaraswamy had attended the meeting of opposition parties convened by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the city in January 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that year.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

Talking to media persons after the meeting, CM Patnaik said, “We resolved to make the federal structure of the country permanent and strong. There was no other political discussion." Banerjee seconded Patnaik and said, "I strongly support what Naveen ji said and I appreciate this."

"It was a courtesy meeting. There was no in-depth discussion about serious political matters. We share a very old friendship," Patnaik added. However, both the leaders skipped questions on the possibilities of a third front or a regional alliance for the 2024 general elections.

Notably, CM Mamata Banerjee's meeting with her Odisha counterpart comes days after she met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Kolkata. Both Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party pledged to stay away from Congress for the 2024 elections while taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to reports.