E-Paper
Pawan Kalyan to launch bus tour in poll-bound Andhra Pradesh after Jagan’s yatra
According to sources, Kalyan’s tour on a bus customised for the trip is tentatively planned from May 15 — starting at Anantapur in the Rayalaseema region and ending at Srikakulam in the northern coastal area.
Political yatras or road shows are the flavour of the season in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly polls are due in less than a year.
Telugu actor-politician Pawan Kalyan is set to launch a bus yatra next week close on the heels of a 3,000km padayatra, or foot march, by YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who is also the opposition leader in the assembly. Reddy’s marathon march is in its final leg.
According to sources, who did not want to be identified, Kalyan’s tour on a bus customised for the trip is tentatively planned from May 15 — starting at Anantapur in the Rayalaseema region and ending at Srikakulam in the northern coastal area. His road show is named Gram Swaraj Yatra.
“The date is expected to be finalised in a day or two,” a party leader close to Pawan said on Friday.
Kalyan floated the Jana Sena Party in March 2014 and campaigned for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in the previous assembly elections.
He has been known to tilt towards the ruling TDP, which parted ways with the BJP this March over the Centre’s alleged non-commitment in granting special status to the state. But political circles were left confused when Kalyan criticised chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s government at a public meeting in Guntur.
Also, he declared that his party would fight the 2019 parliamentary and state elections alone, fielding candidates in all the 175 assembly constituencies and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Party leaders, who are aware of the plans, said the Jana Sena Party president would cover all the constituencies during his bus tour in 13 districts, establish a party network in villages and towns, and hold meetings with local leaders.
“He is likely to address four public meetings at strategic locations to highlight the party’s philosophy,” one of the leaders said.
The bus will be kitted out with a hydraulic platform that can be raised above the roof at the touch of a button for the leader to speak to the people. And there will be a small conference room as well as a toilet.
Jaganmohan Reddy has hired political strategist Prashant Kishore to plan his programmes and work out his campaign strategies. Kalyan has appointed Vasudev, an entrepreneur-cum-educationist, as his political strategist.
“Kalyan is likely to unveil his party manifesto, sometime in August, during the bus yatra,” a party leader said.
