West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to meet NCP supremo Sharad Pawar today

New Delhi, Dec 1: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a three-day trip to Mumbai, will be meeting NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Wednesday. She is scheduled to visit his house at 3 pm, as per Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik.

Banerjee had called on Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut on Tuesday evening. "We welcome her to Mumbai and Maharashtra. There has always been a friendship. We had met her even 2-3 years back when she visited Mumbai. We came to carry forward that friendship. We discussed many issues but we came here to welcome her to Mumbai," ANI quoted Thackeray as saying.

However, the West Bengal Chief Minister wanted to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, but the meeting did not happen due to Thackeray's health issues.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is undergoing physiotherapy after successful cervical spine surgery in November at the HN Reliance Hospital.

After the meeting with Mamata, Thackeray tweeted, "This evening, @rautsanjay61 ji and I called on West Bengal CM @MamataOfficial didi, during her visit to Maharashtra. The bond between CM Uddhav Thackeray ji and CM Mamata Didi is strong. Discussed various things including working together for tourism for our States."

This meeting comes at a time when the Trinamool Congress is looking to expand its presence outside Bengal. It has roped in many leaders from other parties, mainly from Congress, which has strained the relationship between the TMC and the grand old party.

The TMC has poached Congress leaders from Goa and Meghalaya.

Congress leaders Kirti Azad, former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar and former JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma joined TMC during Mamata Banerjee's visit to the national capital, last week.