Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan said that he would work for the unity among the opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh. He said he had already raised the issue with the BJP top leadership during his recent visit to Delhi.

The Jana Sena chief, who is touring rain-hit farmers of East Godavari district, interacted with the media persons in Rajamahendravaram on Thursday. He said he is looking at defeat of the YSR Congress in the next election and would do everything to send Jagan out of power.

He emphasised the need to bring unity among the opposition parties, particularly among the Jana Sena, BJP and the TDP for the next round of elections. He said that the anti-government and the anti-YSR Congress vote should not get divided.

Pawan Kalyan said that the BJP alliance with several parties across the country and maintained that alliance is a political obligation. He said he would once again take the alliance proposal to the national leadership of the BJP. He underlined the need to bring BJP and TDP together along with the Jana Sena.

He said that the Jana Sena’s strength had increased since the 2019 election. Though he expected the party to win at least 40 Assembly seats in the 2019 elections, it did not happen. Now, the situation has changed and the party’s electoral prospects have increased, he asserted.

He also said that the party enjoys 30 per cent strength in some districts and 18 per cent in other areas. He said that he would ask for the seats based on the party strength in the districts. He also maintained that he would not compromise on the number of seats to be given to the Jana Sena in alliance.

“We will look for respectful share from the BJP and the TDP in alliance,” Pawan Kalyan asserted.

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday visited the rain-hit areas of East Godavari district. He interacted with the farmers whose crops were damaged due to the untimely rains.

He reached Rajamahendravaram airport from where he went to Kadiyam. He met the farmers whose paddy and other crops were damaged and discoloured due to the untimely rains. He interacted with them on whether the government was purchasing the damaged crops or not.

Accompanied by party political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar, the Jana Sena chief closeted with the farmers in Kadiyam. He wondered what the Rythu Bharosa Kendras were doing when the farmers were struggling with the damaged crops.

The farmers told him that no government official had visited them. They also told him that the officials were refusing to buy the damaged crops. They requested his intervention to make the government enter into the market and procure the damaged crops.

The farmers also wanted the Jana Sena chief to ensure that the government pays the compensation to the farmers whose crops were damaged in the untimely rains. The Jana Sena chief asked the state government to rescue the farmers who have lost their crops in the recent rains.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of Jana Sena activists welcomed Pawan Kalyan and Nandendla Manohar at the Rajamahendravaram airport. They went to Kadiyam along with the party chief in a massive motor car rally.

Jana Sena Party (JSP) President Pawan Kalyan on Thursday warned leaders against speaking for separate statehood to North Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh.

The actor-politician said that if someone speaks in separatist tones to split the state further, they would not see another extremist like him.

In his address at the Republic Day celebrations at the party office near Mangalagiri in Guntur district, he warned the leaders that if they speak of dividing the state further, this would have serious consequences.

Pawan Kalyan said it was unfortunate that Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao proposed statehood for the North Andhra districts while former minister Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy wanted a separate Rayalaseema state.

He asked these leaders to introspect what they had done for their respective regions, and explain how new states would help in achieving development.

The JSP leader alleged that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) was stoking regional feelings to achieve its political objectives.

He exhorted people to raise a banner of revolt against the “draconian” government of the YSRCP by drawing inspiration from the youth of Telangana who had fought for separate state and achieved it in spite of many difficulties.

The actor told the partymen that he had not entered politics to become Chief Minister overnight. Stating that he has an ideology for the next 25 years, he made it clear that it will not change once in five years for elections.

He observed that the people of Andhra Pradesh were apparently obsessed with their castes more than the common good, which was the reason for other states stealing a march on it.

He alleged that law and order deteriorated due to the inefficiency of the government. He said the government ensured that no one dared to question its policies and actions by implicating people, mainly leaders of the opposition parties, in false cases.

He alleged that YSRCP cadres were behind the arson that had taken place in Amalapuram over the naming of Konaseema district after B.R. Ambedkar. It was a conspiracy to derive political mileage by driving a wedge between various castes, but nobody knew about the fate of this case, he said.

Pawan slammed Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for having no confidence in the state police. He said nothing has so far happened in the Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy murder and the infamous ‘Kodi Kathi’ case.

Vivekananda Reddy, a former minister and uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered just before the 2019 elections.

‘Kodi Kathi” case relates to the attack on Jagan Mohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam Airport in 2018 by a youth with a knife used in cockfights.

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan had readied his vehicle for the 2024 election campaign. He named the vehicle as “Varahi”, a goddess who saves the world from evil forces.

Pawan Kalyan is also planning to launch a state-wide tour before the elections, and he is likely to use this vehicle. He initially planned to go on a bus yatra but differed for unknown reasons. He said he is required to know more about the people and their problems before he starts his yatra.

Now, he readied the vehicle which appears like a military vehicle, protected completely from all sides. The vehicle would have basic facilities for Pawan Kalyan to rest and ready besides holding key meetings with half-a-dozen leaders at a time.

While it is not known whether Pawan Kalyan would stay in alliance with the BJP or would go with the TDP, as is widely speculated. In fact, Pawan Kalyan, on several occasions had said that he would try to keep the anti-government vote united so as to defeat the ruling YSR Congress. Going by this, he is likely to break his alliance with the BJP and go with the TDP.

He is leaving no stone unturned to defeat the YSR Congress and enter into the Assembly with at least 10 MLAs from Jana Sena along with him. He strongly believes that he would be able to win the elections only if he goes with the TDP and not the BJP.

It is to be seen what move he would make before the 2024 election bells ring!

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Saturday felicitated the nine leaders of the party from Visakhapatnam who were arrested during his visit to the city on October 15.

Pawan Kalyan invited all the nine leaders along with their family members to the party headquarters at Mangalagiri.

He congratulated them for standing tall and strong against the YSR Congress leadership and the state government.

He honoured the nine leaders – Kona Tata Rao, Sundarapu Vijay Kumar, Panchakarla Sandeep, P V S N Raju, Peethala Murthy Yadav, Kolluru Rupa, Rayapureddy Krishna, Srinivasa Patnaik and Chittibilli Srinu.

The leaders were arrested and sent to jail in Visakhapatnam on the charges of taking out an unauthorised rally from airport and attack on the minister’s vehicles. The police also attempted to arrest Pawan Kalyan but was restrained for reasons not known.

It was later, Pawan Kalyan left Visakhapatnam and reached Vijayawada, where he addressed the media and later the party workers. At the party meeting, Pawan Kalyan went aggressive on the ruling YSR Congress leaders and hurled abuses at them.

BJP State chief Somu Veerraju met Pawan Kalyan at the Jana Sena office and expressed solidarity with him.

Interestingly, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu met Pawan Kalyan in a hotel and expressed his support to the fight against the YSR Congress leaders. The two leaders addressed a joint press conference emphasising the need for a united fight against the YSR Congress leadership in the state.

The two leaders have also underlined the need for unity among the opposition parties in the state for the 2024 general election. They have also given an indication that the two parties would fight the 2024 electoral battle.

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan will be touring the YSR Kadapa district on August 20. He would be meeting the families of the tenant farmers who committed suicide due to debts.

The Jana Sena chief had so far visited the two Godavari districts, Prakasam, Ananthapur and Kurnool districts, where he donated Rs 1 lakh each to the bereaved families and addressed his party workers in the public meetings.

On August 20, Pawan Kalyan would be touring the undivided YSR Kadapa district and meet the bereaved family members. Kadapa has been the fortress of the YS family for decades. The district became the target for the TDP and Jana Sena as well, as Jagan Mohan Reddy became the chief minister.

Pawan Kalyan would address the families of the tenant farmers and the party workers at a public meeting to be held at Siddhavatam. The Jana Sena chief had been standing for the tenant farmers and campaigning in their support exposing the failures of the state government. He alleges that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government had not done anything for the tenant farmers. However, he says that the chief minister was spreading false campaign by supressing the suicides of these tenant farmers.

The Jana Sena leaders say that Jagan Mohan Reddy might use force to silence the family members of the tenant farmers who have committed suicide. The chief minister may not allow these family members to speak to Pawan Kalyan, the Jana Sena leaders feared.

They are also alleging that Jagan Mohan Reddy was sending his police and revenue officials wherever Pawan Kalyan planned to visit. The police and the revenue officials were scaring the bereaved families not to speak to Pawan Kalyan. “However, a good number of these families are meeting Pawan Kalyan,” a Jana Sena leader asserted.

AP Minister Dadisetti Raja on Tuesday criticised Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan for his confused politics and demanded that Jana Sena should make its stand clear on the 2024 general elections. Dadisetti Raja said that Pawan Kalyan was betraying the Kapus, using the caste card.

The Minister said that Pawan Kalyan was asking the Kapus to support Jana Sena. On the contrary, Pawan Kalyan was looking at the TDP. He alleged that the Jana Sena chief had been doing everything to have an alliance with the TDP for the 2024 general elections.

Raja asked the Jana Sena chief to tell the people or even the Kapus whether he would contest all the 175 Assembly constituencies and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies. He also wanted Pawan Kalyan to say whether he would go with the TDP or stay with the BJP.

The Minister said that Pawan Kalyan was doing politics only to help the TDP wrest power in the state. “In other words, we can say that Pawan Kalyan is working for the victory of the TDP and not Jana Sena,” the Minister said.

The Minister wanted Pawan Kalyan to give clarity on these issues, before blaming the ruling YSR Congress or asking the Kapus to support him. The Minister claimed that the Kapus are wise enough to understand the pro-TDP politics of Pawan Kalyan and were not ready to be betrayed once again.

The Minister said that Pawan Kalyan had changed his allies several times and wondered whether he had come into politics only for alliance or to contest alone and come to power. “Pawan Kalyan should focus on strengthening his party and winning the elections rather than helping the TDP win the elections,” Dadisetti Raja said.