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Pawan Kalyan’s call for unity of opposition in AP opens up possibilty of realignment of political forces
Hyderabad A realignment of political forces is in the offing in Andhra Pradesh following a call given by popular actor and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan last week for a unity among the opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh to defeat the ruling YSR Congress party in the next elections
Hyderabad
A realignment of political forces is in the offing in Andhra Pradesh following a call given by popular actor and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan last week for a unity among the opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh to defeat the ruling YSR Congress party in the next elections.
While addressing a public meeting at Mangalagiri in Guntur district on March 14, Pawan Kalyan said he would make all-out efforts to see to it that there is no split in the anti-incumbency votes in the state by bringing together like-minded parties so that they could fight together to pull down the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the next assembly elections scheduled in 2024.
Pawan Kalyan was apparently reacting to a comment made by Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu during his visit to his Kuppam constituency in January that his party was not averse to having an alliance with Jana Sena Party. “But it cannot be a one-side love. There has to be response from the other side.”
By calling for the unity of anti-YSRCP forces in the state, Pawan Kalyan reciprocated to Naidu’s call and hinted at a possible alliance with the TDP in the next elections.
However, Jana Sena Party has already been a political ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2014 assembly elections, the BJP had an alliance with the TDP and Jana Sena Party extended support from outside to ensure their victory.
But in 2018, the BJP and TDP parted ways over the issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh and Naidu turned a bitter critic of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He even joined hands with the Congress to float a grand alliance of anti-BJP forces at the national level to defeat Modi. The experiment failed and Naidu lost power in his own state.
After 2019 elections, the BJP joined hands with Pawan Kalyan and has been taking up agitations against the YSR Congress party government. At the same time, the BJP has been maintaining distance from the TDP and making efforts to grow as an alternative political force along with the Jana Sena Party.
Against this backdrop, the call given by Pawan Kalyan for a unity among the anti-YSRCP forces to avoid a split in the anti-incumbency votes has landed the BJP in an embarrassing situation. “We shall wait for a road map from the BJP in this regard,” the actor-turned-politician said.
The BJP, however, is cautious in its reaction to Pawan Kalyan’s call. “At present, we have an alliance with Jana Sena Party. We shall make efforts to see that the BJP-Jana Sena combine will come to power in the next elections. This is our road map,” BJP Andhra Pradesh unit president Somu Veerraju said.
At a meeting of the BJP state executive meeting held in Kurnool on Sunday, the party leaders discussed the proposal of Jana Sena Party chief. A party functionary familiar with the development said many BJP leaders opposed any sort of alliance with the TDP and sought a clarification from the party leadership in this regard.
“Senior party leaders are of the view that even the BJP national leadership might not agree for the revival of an alliance with the TDP. They said it is better the party leaders refrain from talking about the alliances now and let us focus only on fighting against the anti-people policies of the Jagan government,” the BJP leader said.
The TDP leaders, however, welcomed Pawan Kalyan’s call for prevention of a split in the anti-incumbency vote. “We believe it is a genuine call. We shall discuss the same in the politburo meeting and take a decision,” senior TDP leader and former minister Nimmakayala Chinna Rajappa said.
Another TDP leader and lawmaker Nimmala Rama Naidu told a television channel that though Pawan Kalyan’s call made sense, it would be better if the TDP did not hurry with any statement on the alliance at this stage.
He said the TDP had the capability of coming power on its own, but if it joined hands with the Jana Sena Party, it could win huge number of seats. “For now, let us fight on our own. If any party comes forward extending a friendly hand, the TDP can join hands with it,” he said.
Political analyst Bandaru Srinivasa Rao said one cannot rule out the possibility of the TDP, Jana Sena and BJP coming together in the next elections. “But it all depends on how the BJP national leadership looks at its requirement before the next elections. If it thinks the YSRCP will come to its rescue in the event of a number game, it will go with Jagan. Otherwise, it might join hands with the TDP,” he said.
Senior journalist from Visakhapatnam Mallu Rajesh, however, said if the TDP, BJP and Jana Sena form an alliance, they might sweep the polls. “In the 2019 elections, they fought separately. The TDP got close to 40 per cent of votes, while Jana Sena got nearly 5.6 per cent vote share,” he reminded.
Though the BJP won less than one per cent vote share, it can still influence the voting in some parts. In the last three years, both the TDP and Jana Sena improved their strength and that would help them come to power, Rajesh added.
The YSRCP reacted strongly to Pawan Kalyan’s call for opposition unity. “His only objective is to bring Naidu back to power. He has no other political agenda of his own. It is better if Pawan Kalyan contests the elections on his own, instead of entering into an alliance with the other parties, as it improves his own image and that of the party,” senior YSRC legislator D Chandrasekhar Reddy said.
