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Pawan Kalyan’s meeting with J P Nadda sparks speculation of JSP-BJP tie-up
Both the Jana Sena Party and the BJP were hammered in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh last year.
Telugu film actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan on Monday met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) working president J P Nadda in New Delhi amid speculation that the two parties might forge an alliance in Andhra Pradesh where both were mauled in last year’s assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
According to a JSP leader familiar with the development, Pawan left for New Delhi on Sunday following a call from the BJP leadership and had held preliminary round of talks with BJP MP from Bengaluru (South) Tejaswi Surya and general secretary B L Santosh.
On Monday, Pawan, along with his senior party colleague and former assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar, met Nadda at his residence and held discussions for over an hour.
“Though there has been pressure from the BJP leadership for a merger of Jana Sena with the BJP, Pawan wants to sustain his party at least for now and build it up as a potential alternative to the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh. He, however, is willing to associate with the BJP in the state in chalking out joint action plan against the YSRC government,” the leader quoted above said.
The JSP chief explained in detail the ongoing agitation by farmers of Amaravati against the three capitals plan envisaged by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. He requested Nadda to nudge the Centre to intervene in the matter and ensure that the capital was retained at Amaravati.
Pawan reminded to the BJP leadership that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid foundation stone for the capital city at Amaravati. The Centre had also released Rs 2500 crore for the capital city. This had created some sort of security for the farmers, he said.
“But now, the Jagan government is trying to shift the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam, leaving the farmers of Amaravati in the lurch. The Centre cannot escape from its responsibility on the pretext that the capital is a state subject,” he said.
Farmers in Amravati have been protesting for almost a month now against the proposal to shift the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam.
In December, Pawan had hinted at forging an alliance with the BJP soon. He had told reporters at Tirupati then that he had never distanced himself from the BJP but was very much associated with it. “Political equations keep changing with time in the interests of the people. One should look at the change only in spirit of the Constitution,” Pawan had said.
Both the JSP and the BJP have been reduced to the margins in Andhra Pradesh.
The actor, who is the youngest brother of popular film star and former Union minister K Chiranjeevi, launched the Jana Sena Party before 2014 general elections and supported the BJP-Telugu Desam Party combine in Andhra Pradesh, but did not contest the elections.
In 2019, Pawan differed with the BJP and the TDP and contested the elections in alliance with the CPI, CPI (M) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The alliance fared badly in the elections with the JSP winning just one seat in the 175-member assembly.
Pawan himself failed to win either of the two seats he had contested – Bhimavaram in West Godavari and Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam. The party registered a meagre vote share of 6.78 per cent and lost deposits in as many as 120 assembly seats. In the Lok Sabha elections for 25 seats in the state, it drew a blank.
The BJP could not win a single seat either in the assembly or the Lok Sabha.
