Pawar slated to address rallies with Naveen

After skipping the much-hyped BJD-NCP-Left rally in Bhubaneswar last week, NPC supremo Sharad Pawar is slated to address four poll meetings in Orissa along with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday, party sources said.

Though Pawar is scheduled to address election meetings with Patnaik, there was no plan to include leaders of Left parties, with which ruling BJD has entered into seat adjustments, in the Maratha strong man's rallies.

Pawar could not attend the BJD-NCP-Left rally on April 3 due to technical snag in his flight.

The NCP supremo's absence at the rally sparked speculation that Pawar deliberately skipped the rally due to pressure from Congress leadership which was opposed to his sharing dais with Left leaders.

Though Left leaders would not be present at Naveen-Pawar rallies, leaders of CPI and CPI(M) are likely to take part in a joint press meet scheduled to be held on Wednesday evening, CPI(M) state secretary Janardan Pati said.