Mamata, Nitish congratulate Patnaik for Delhi rally

Bhubaneswar, June 13: The Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Bihar congratulated Naveen Patnaik for raising his voice in New Delhi against the Centre's alleged negligence towards non-Congress ruled states, official sources said.

"Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar congratulated Patnaik for his successful rally in Delhi today," a spokesman at the Chief Minister's Office here told reporters. The spokesman refused to divulge the subject of discussion among the three non-Congress Chief Ministers, but said, "They have welcomed the Odisha Chief Minister for his bold step".

The discussion among the trio was held amidst reports of a possible emergence of a 'Federal Front' before the next elections.

Patnaik had expressed support for a proposal of Banerjee regarding a Federal Front comprising regional parties. Sources in the CMO said the three chief ministers along with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jaylalithaa and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu could join hands to give final shape to the proposed Federal Front.

Patnaik has held that regional parties were gradually gaining strength in Indian politics while the national parties have lost their acceptability among the people at large. Yesterday he said he had not ruled out the possibility of associating with Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and AIADMK to build a third alternative. When asked whether Left parties could be in the formation, Patnaik had said, "We have to see".

PTI