Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her residence in Kolkata on Friday. The meeting between the two leaders lasted about 45 minutes. None of the leaders spoke to mediapersons after the meeting.
“Former CM of Karnataka and @JanataDal_S leader Shri @hd_kumaraswamy called upon Hon’ble CM Smt @MamataOfficial today, in Kalighat, Kolkata. Few glimpses from the meeting,” Trinamool Congress tweeted sharing photographs of the meeting.
This is the third meeting between the Trinamool chairperson and the leaders of key regional parties in the past one week. On March 17, Ms. Banerjee met Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav in Kolkata and on Thursday, she met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar.
Over the past few weeks the Trinamool leadership has been emphasising on maintaining equal distance with the BJP and the Congress. After the meeting with Ms. Banerjee, Mr. Yadav had spoken in the same vein and stressed on the need for a third front or an alliance with regional parties. Similarly, Ms. Banerjee and Mr. Patnaik both affirmed their commitment to a robust federal structure after their meeting.
The Trinamool chairperson also maintains cordial relationship with the JD(S) leader and the meeting comes before the Karnataka Assembly election. The two parties have worked closely on various issues in the past, including coordinating for Presidential elections in June last year.
Earlier, Mr. Kumaraswamy on his arrival at Kolkata airport, described the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha MP as “political vendetta of the BJP”.
