JDU chief Nitish Kumar to visit Kolkata next week

Kolkata; At a time when the Trinamool Congress and the Left in Bengal are yet to show any signs of reconciliation for the sake of Lok Sabha polls as part of the INDIA bloc, a key member of this bloc, considered a reliable ally of TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal United (JDU) chief Nitish Kumar is scheduled to visit Kolkata next week to lay the foundation stone of the ‘Jyoti Basu Centre for Social Studies and Research’ along with the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Even as there is no concrete decision as to whether Nitish Kumar, who is also the Bihar chief minister, will meet his counterpart Mamata Banerjee during the visit, sources said that it is most likely that he would and speculation is rife that he may also try to broker a deal between the TMC and the Left in Bengal for the sake of the Lok Sabha elections where the INDIA bloc aims to dislodge the BJP from the Centre.

Sources said that Kumar is scheduled to visit Kolkata on January 17 where he will lay the foundation stone for the ‘Jyoti Basu Centre for Social Studies and Research’ in New Town. Also present will be the senior Left leader and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan accompanied by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

It was learnt that a conference will be held on how to save the secular democratic values of this country which is allegedly under attack from the BJP.

In the wake of such developments, political observers consider this congregation is of great importance as the ruling party of Bengal (TMC) and the CPI(M) are both allies of JDU. At such a juncture, it is to be seen whether Kumar, considered an able political strategist, is able to bring two of these parties on the same table to reach an understanding for the upcoming elections.

Even as Mamata Banerjee and Sitaram Yechury were sitting on either sides of the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the last INDIA bloc meeting, they did not communicate with each other and neither evinced any interest in considering a possibility of entering into an electoral understanding in Bengal.

On the contrary,

leaders of both TMC and CPI(M) have revolted against the very thought of such an alliance, so far.