Mamata Banerjee goes for Federal Front

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Kolkata: Desperate to take forward her call for a Federal Front, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee has initiated talks with the leaders of three key regional parties — Janata Dal (United), Biju Janata Dal and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik).
On Wednesday, Banerjee spoke to JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJD chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik seeking their support. The Trinamul chief revealed this after meeting JD(U) general secretary K.C. Tyagi at Writers’ Buildings here.
“I talked to Nitish Kumar, who has agreed on the Federal Front and described that the move will be good for the states and the nation if we can come together to build the platform,” she said. She quoted Kumar as saying, “We’ll be happy if we can do it with the objective of the common cause of the people.”
“We will talk with all regional parties in different states. Our talks are on strengthening of the federal structure. Tyagi came to talk to me. On Wednesday, I had a talk with Naveenji over the phone. Next time we will decide the venue where we will meet for discussions. We are satisfied,” Banerjee added.
Advani plays the NDA card
Sanjay Basak | DC
If the fear of defeat is forcing BJP patriarch L.K. Advani to look for a safe seat outside his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat, state Chief Minister Narendra Modi  intends to venture out and fight from Uttar Pradesh.
The proposed move to contest from Uttar Pradesh is being seen as Modi’s attempt to send a signal that his “charisma” is not confined to his home state. The Lok Sabha berths Modi’s camp is looking at include Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad.
Meanwhile, as Modi gets ready for Mission 2014, a covert battle between him and his bete noire, Advani, continues to rage. While Modi draws his support from within the party, Advani is relying on his NDA card.