On his maiden political yatra in Telangana since the new state was formed in 2014, actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Pawan Kalyan announced that the party would contest the 2019 polls in both in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“The party will contest in all the seats that it feels it has the strength,” he said in Karimnagar. The assessment of the party’s strength in all the constituencies will be made prior to two months of the elections.
On Monday, one thing was clear: Pawan Kalyan is a saleable factor in Telangana politics. At Kondagattu Anjaneyaswaramy temple in Jagitial of Karimnagar district where Pawan Kalyan went to offer special puja, a large number of supporters received him shouting slogans. The enthusiasm of his supporters was evident from Hyderabad itself when he started off by road from the Jana Sena Party (JSP) office.
“CM, CM,” supporters shouted as Pawan Kalyan got into a car in a convoy. He also started an FB page for the women’s wing of the party.
Pawan Kalyan did not plan public meetings at any place, but restricted himself to ‘road shows’ without addressing the supporters. In the evening, he spoke to the media and later met party workers.
“What is wrong in meeting chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and conveying greetings to him on the occasion of new year?” he said countering a question when asked why he had met KCR. Pawan Kalyan also described KCR as a ‘hardworking and smart chief minister’.
On the cash-for-vote scandal, he said he chose not to react, because he did not want to complicate the issue. “This is what all parties do as I know. What the TDP did was wrong. But I felt it was not necessary for me to comment about it at that time,” he said.
Pawan Kalyan said his Jana Sena Party (JSP) had the support of the people in Telangana and he would take up the issues of the people. “There are many unresolved issues between both AP and Telangana,” he said. To a question, Pawan Kalyan said he did not consult his brother Chiranjeevi on the political course he had undertaken.
“I do not get involve my family members in this. I have not taken his advice and will also not discuss it with him,” he said.
The JSP president said there were many challenges for both the AP and Telangana governments, including that of creating employment opportunities. Pawan Kalyan said BJP president Amit Shah had once suggested to him that there was no scope for regional parties and that he should join the BJP.
“In fact, he even refused to acknowledge the JSP as a party. I handled the situation sensitively and ignored his advice,” Pawan Kalyan said. After his three-day Telangana tour, the Jana Sena Party leader will start his yatra in Andhra Pradesh. #KhabarLive
