He, however, parried a question regarding where he would contest the elections from, but he would take the decision at some point.
File photo of Pawan Kalyan. (Supplied)
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Friday, 6 October, said that he had announced the alliance with the TDP after visiting former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison in a spur-of-the-moment move.
He said: “There was no time to discuss the issue with the BJP as all the top brass was busy with the G20 conclave at that time.”
The actor-turned-politician also said: “I am very close to Narendra Modi, as well as Amit Shah and JP Nadda, but they were all busy.”
He also expressed hope that the BJP would join hands with the Jana Sena and the TDP to oust the YSRCP from power in Andhra Pradesh. As an afterthought, he said he should have announced the alliance in Delhi.
Pawan Kalyan told reporters at the party’s office in Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh that the Jana Sena wished that it fought the 2024 elections like it did in 2014, together with the BJP and the TDP. At that time, the Jana Sena only lent support and did not contest. But this time, it will contest the elections.
He parried a question regarding where he would contest the elections from. He said it would be he who would take the decision at some point.
He also said there was no need for him to explain to others about the alliance with the TDP. “At the right time, we will explain everything to the people and there was no need to respond to criticism from the YSRCP ministers and MLAs,” said Pawan Kalyan.
He said: “I hope that the BJP would join hands with us in the interests of the people of Andhra Pradesh.”
Pawan Kalyan also defended his decision to strike an alliance with TDP though he was still in the NDA.
“The Jana Sena is an independent party though it may be part of NDA,” he said. “My only intention is to prevent a split of the anti-YSRCP vote and I had been explaining to the BJP leaders my viewpoint on every occasion.”
The actor-politician said that as he had announced already, he had constituted a five-member panel headed by party leader Nadendla Manohar to work in coordination with the TDP to take up issues relating to the state.
The Jana Sena panel, together with the TDP, would constitute a coordination panel to fight with the government on people’s issues. He named the leaders of the Jana Sena who would be a part of the panel: Mahender Reddy, Kandula Durgesh, Govind, Yashaswini, and Bommidi Naik.
He said after Chandrababu Naidu was released from prison, he would go and meet him at his residence. He also expressed his anguish over implicating Naidu in cases and lodging him in jail.
Pawan Kalyan said the YSRCP created problems for him as well while he was on his way to Andhra Pradesh on the day Naidu was arrested.
“I went to Hyderabad airport but my flight was not allowed to take off. When I was arriving by road, the police stopped me on the AP-Telangana border. I was not going to meet Naidu that day. I was going to my office in Mangalagiri as I had party programmes lined up for the following few days,” he said.
May 14, 2024
May 13, 2024
May 13, 2024
May 13, 2024
May 13, 2024
May 13, 2024
