With the meeting, the party is contradicting its earlier stance that it would be contesting without any alliance in Telangana.
G Kishan Reddy, Pawan Kalyan, K Laxman. (Supplied)
In a surprise move, the Telangana BJP has sought the support of the Jana Sena — headed by actor-politician Pawan Kalyan — for the 30 November Assembly elections in the state.
A delegation led by the Union Tourism Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy and BJP OBC Morcha national president K Laxman met Pawan Kalyan at his residence in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 18 OCtober, and sought his support.
The move triggered speculations that there might be an alliance between the two parties and that they might contest the elections jointly.
With the BJP leaders meeting Pawan Kalyan, the party is contradicting its earlier stance when it claimed that it would be contesting without any alliance in Telangana.
The Jana Sena has already announced the list of candidates for 32 Assembly constituencies in Telangana.
The meeting assumed significance since the BJP central leadership is finalising the first list of candidates for over 40 Assembly constituencies in Telangana. The list of candidates is expected to be announced in a couple of days.
The BJP Central Election Committee also convened its meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday to announce the list of candidates for the five states, including Telangana, where Assembly elections would be conducted on different dates in November.
Reportedly, Kishan Reddy, Laxman, and Pawan Kalyan held discussions for over an hour on the Assembly segments to be contested during the elections.
The outcome of the meeting would be made public only after the meeting of Kishan Reddy with the BJP central leadership.
Interestingly, the BJP had won a large number of municipal divisions and stood in second place — after the ruling BRS — when Kishan Reddy and Laxman sought the help of Pawan Kalyan during the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in 2020.
తెలంగాణలో ఉమ్మడి పోటీపై శ్రీ @PawanKalyan గారితో చర్చలు జరిపిన బి.జె.పి. నేతలు @BJP4Telangana pic.twitter.com/Hl7ivPgRE3
— JanaSena Party (@JanaSenaParty) October 18, 2023
Sources told South First that the BJP was leaving no stone unturned to win the Assembly elections, and that the meeting with Pawan Kalyan was a part of its strategy.
They said the party wanted to cash in on the support of Pawan Kalyan’s followers in Telangana, especially in the GHMC limits.
However, confusion prevails about whether Pawan Kalyan would extend support to the BJP or the TDP Telangana unit, whose president Kasani Gnaneshwar has said that the party would contest the elections with the support of the Jana Sena.
Pawan Kalyan has already declared that his party would contest Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh with the support of the TDP.
Earlier, the actor-politician claimed that his party would be in the fray in 32 Assembly segments in Telangana.
He added that the seats that the Jana Sena would be contesting were mainly in the GHMC area and the Nalgonda and Khammam districts.
These constituencies have Andhra voters in huge numbers, who might vote for any party that is against KCR provided it can challenge him at the hustings.
There is a growing perception that the Andhra voters might look for a party that has its roots in the Andhra soil if they are big enough to challenge KCR or at least be able to cause some pain to him.
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