Jana Sena, even though not known for making any great advances in Telangana, could still turn into a game-changer with Pawan Kalyan having a pull among his fans.
Published Feb 09, 2025 | 11:06 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 09, 2025 | 12:50 PM
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan.
Synopsis: The Election Commission allotted a symbol for the Jana Sena in Telangana. With this development, the NDA, including the BJP and the TDP, is hoping to gain ground in the state. Carrying the Andhra parties tag, it would be difficult for Jana Sena and TDP to gain support in Telangana.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has allotted the glass symbol for the Jana Sena Party, led by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, in Telangana. The decision came at a time when the TDP-led NDA was not only trying to consolidate the gains it had made in the last Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh but also eyeing Telangana with renewed interest.
Following the development, there is speculation that another battlefront, besides the BRS, might open up in Telangana against the Congress.
Even though the BJP is playing second fiddle to the TDP and Jana Sena in Andhra Pradesh, the ball game is entirely different in Telangana, where it is a force to reckon with.
With eight Lok Sabha seats and an equal number of Assembly seats tucked under its belt, the BJP, which had tasted the blood of winning political contests in recent elections, is raring to capture power in the state in the next Assembly election. It is a very long shot since they are scheduled only for 2028.
Jana Sena, even though not known for making any great advances in Telangana, could still turn into a game-changer with Pawan Kalyan having a pull among his fans.
With the BJP in the lead, and the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP backing it, Jana Sena could emerge as a potential force in the electoral armageddon, provided the Telangana sentiment does not spoil the broth for them.
However, there is a long way to go, and the NDA in Andhra Pradesh has to hone its strategies to take on the BRS in Telangana, which has its roots firmly in the Telangana movement, and the Congress which is in power now.
Even today, the TDP has a strong network of cadres in Telangana who remained inert after the party lost its grandeur in the 2014 elections. The party was thrown out of the newly formed state with “barely its clothes on”, a Telugu idiom meaning that they were shown the gate, most unceremoniously.
The TDP has been raring to take it out on BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who had scripted its decline and obliteration on Telangana soil. It is now trying to stage a comeback in Telangana, with the political landscape having changed dramatically.
With the BRS relegated to the Opposition benches, the TDP seems to be thinking that it is the right time for it to strike, while the iron is still red-hot.
The TDP’s Achilles heel in Telangana is the absence of leaders even though it has cadres. Apart from this, it carries the Andhra tag, which is annoying to the people of Telangana.
However, with the BJP as its shield, the TDP and Jana Sena could plan to get into Telangana through the backdoor, as the BJP has enough leaders.
Jana Sena is also in the same predicament as the TDP, as it is an out-and-out “Andhra Party,” and therefore its leader Pawan Kalyan is a persona non grata in Telangana, like Naidu.
But with the BJP in the lead, and the TDP and Jana Sena extending support to it, who knows, the winning combination in Andhra might pull off a miracle in Telangana. This is the pipe dream that is continuing among leaders of the Andhra Pradesh NDA constituents.
However, it is very difficult now to visualise whether Andhra Pradesh’s NDA might be able to make fresh inroads into Telangana since the Telangana voters have so far remained against the TDP and Jana Sena because of their anti-Telangana credentials.
But what is wrong with dreaming and trying? Naidu keeps saying: “Dare to dream.”
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
