Pawar to address rallies with Patnaik in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Apr 8 (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar will address four poll meetings with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday.

Pawar has not revealed any plans to include leaders of the Left parties in the meetings, with which ruling BJD has entered into a seat sharing arrangement.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPM) state secretary, Janardan Pati, informed that leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPM are likely to take part in a joint press meet this evening.

On April 3, Pawar's plans to address a BJD-NCP-Left rally in Bhubaneswar did not materialise after the Congress voiced reservations over his sharing a platform with Third Front leaders.

Pati had contended that Pawar's absence from the April 3 rally had sent out a wrong message about the Third Front.

"Though we are striving hard to form an alternative government at the Centre, Congress got a handle to manipulate Pawar's absence to claim that he is not with us," he said. (ANI)