Bihar CM Nitish Kumar puts everyone guessing over his Odisha visit

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was instrumental in forging unity in the opposition camp to take on BJP in the general elections 2024, created suspense on his visit to Odisha on May 5.

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was instrumental in forging unity in the opposition camp to take on BJP in the general elections 2024, created suspense on his visit to Odisha on May 5. On Thursday, giving reply to reporters' query, the Chief Minister said, "I learnt about this from newspapers. I was a bit surprised that I was going to Odisha on May 5. When I will plan for Odisha, it will be known to you (reporters) accordingly." Chief Minister Nitish Kumar denied his visit to Odisha on May 5, but the suspense over his visit to Odisha remained.

Speculations are rife that JDU's Nitish Kumar will make a trip to Odisha after the Karnataka elections. If JDU sources are to be believed, Kumar will visit Odisha this week only. There was a possibility that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may visit Odisha before the Karnataka elections. Karnataka elections are slated for May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

To give an impetus to the opposition unity, leaders from the different opposition parties are contemplating a meeting in Bihar's capital Patna after one week after the Karnataka elections. But at present, the suspense was definitely created regarding the meeting of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik.

CM Nitish Kumar is expected to visit Jharkhand as well as Odisha. JDU national president Lalan Singh had already made a trip to Jharkhand to meet Chief Minister Hemant Soren. So far, Bihar Chief Minister visited New Delhi thrice. He also went to Kolkata once and also visited Lucknow to meet TMC's Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav respectively forging unity in the opposition camp.