West Bengal (WB) Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee arrived in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday as part of her three-day visit to Odisha. As per reports, Mamata will make a night halt at Nirman Nivas in Puri today. She is scheduled to visit the Jagannath Temple to offer her prayers to the Holy Trinity on Wednesday.
“I will visit Puri Jagannath Temple to offer my prayers to the deities. Odisha CM is our senior leader and will meet him,” said Mamata Banerjee after reaching Bhubaneswar.
On March 23, the West Bengal CM is scheduled to meet Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Even though the agenda of the meeting is still unclear, sources said that the two leaders could discuss several issues concerning the states as well as the upcoming 2024 elections.
It is pertinent to mention here that the West Bengal Chief Minister had recently met Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in Kolkata. Subsequently, both Mamata and Akhilesh Yadav announced that they will maintain equal distance from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
Mamata’s visit to Odisha assumes significance as it remains to be seen what agenda is discussed when she meets Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik.
“WB CM has arrived today and she will visit Puri Jagannath Temple,” said Odisha Minister of State (MoS) for Home, Tusharkanti Behera.
According to Behera, Mamata Banerjee will also meet Odisha Chief Minister on March 23. “It is between the two CMs to decide what issues they will discuss,” he added.
Puri SP, on the other hand, said that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the visit of the West Bengal Chief Minister to the pilgrim town as per the protocol.
(Reported by Niranjan Reddy)