Actor-politician Pawan Kalyan has said that his Jana Sena Party (JSP) has come out of the BJP-led NDA to join hands with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for 2024 assembly elections.
Addressing a public meeting as part of his Varahi yatra at Pedana in Krishna district, he said he came out of NDA to support TDP in difficult times. "Despite difficulties, we had joined the NDA. Now we have come out and extended 100 per cent support to TDP because it is going through difficult times," he said, referring to the arrest of TDP leader and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in alleged skill development scam.
Pawan Kalyan, who had met Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail last month, said that Andhra Pradesh needs TDP's experience of four decades and the Jana Sena's youth strength to fight. He exuded confidence that the TDP-JSP alliance will come to power in 2024.
This is the first time that Pawan Kalyan publicly declared that Jana Sena has come out of NDA. He had attended the NDA meeting held in Delhi on July 18. After the meeting, he had said that Jana Sena will support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.
Pawan Kalyan had earlier said that he was waiting for road map from BJP to throw Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government out of power. Apparently realising that BJP is not ready to join hands with the TDP again, Pawan Kalyan took the decision to go with the TDP.
The actor said in 2021 he took a decision to come together with like-minded parties to avoid split of votes to oust YSR Congress Party from power. The Jana Sena leader recalled that in 2014 he extended support to Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu for golden future of Andhra Pradesh. Almost 10 years have passed but unfortunately this could not be achieved. There is no use in regretting what happened. "Past is past. Now we have to look towards future," he said.
Pawan Kalyan had campaigned for TDP-BJP alliance in 2014 elections. The alliance had come to power in the state. He, however, later distanced himself from both the parties for failing to deliver on the promise of special category state to Andhra Pradesh. In 2018, TDP also snapped ties with the BJP, accusing the party of failing to fulfill the commitments made to the state. Jana Sena contested 2019 elections in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties.
However, the alliance had to bite the dust. Jana Sena could win just one seat in 175-member assembly. YSRCP stormed to power by bagging 151 seats while TDP, which went alone, won 23 seats. BJP, which had won four seats in 2014, drew a blank. However, a few months after the elections, Pawan Kalyan revived his alliance with the BJP. For last couple of years, he had been making efforts to forge a grand alliance among TDP, BJP and Jana Sena.
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