SP Leader Akhilesh Yadav Meets West Bengal CM Mamata At Her Residence In Kolkata. In Pics

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday and is expected to meet with her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik next week, fueling speculation that the TMC supremo is spearheading an initiative to forge an alliance of regional parties against the BJP while avoiding the Congress.

Akhilesh Yadav and top Samajwadi Party leaders, including Shivpal Singh Yadav, meet with Bengal chief minister at her Kalighat mansion in Kolkata.

When they discussed strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, both leaders resolved to keep their distance from the Congress and BJP.

The SP head congratulated Banerjee on beating the BJP in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election. Akhilesh has given his party's support to the TMC by not fielding a candidate in the 2021 West Bengal assembly election. In exchange, Banerjee campaigned for the former CM of Uttar Pradesh during the state's 2022 election.

Akhilesh Yadav stated the agenda for the meeting between the two Opposition leaders earlier in the day.

Yadav told reporters on the margins of his party's workers' meeting that the Samajwadi Party will take a neutral stance towards both the Congress and the BJP. According to PTI, the SP president stated that the party will stand strongly with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee to combat the saffron movement.