“The coming election in Karnataka has also been discussed by the two leaders apart from the present political situation in the country,” sources said.

Amid strong “Third Front” buzz, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Naveen Pattanaik in Odisha on Thursday. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had met Banerjee last Friday at her residence. Banerjee had held discussions. about strategies for the coming Lok Sabha polls and alliance of regional parties.Yadav has said that the regional parties are trying to create an alliance or Front and Banerjee is working towards it. Telangana Chief Minister KCR and the Bihar chief minister are also proactive about the alliance of regional parties, Yadav stated.

The meetings with non-Congress, non-BJP leaders are said to be part of the Trinamool’s efforts to ensure an “opposition unity with regional powers”.

“Mamata Banerjee will connect with various like-minded regional parties nationally, who are capable of fighting BJP in their own states,” Trinamool sources said.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification and party’s strategy and plans for agitations were top of the agenda at the meeting.

Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case, an action the party termed an attempt to “silence” his voice as it vowed to fight the battle legally and politically.