For Jana Sena (JS) party, the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh next week are very crucial for its existence as a political party for the last one decade.

It is also expecting to reap the fruits of the hard work put in by its Founder-President and popular film actor K Pawan Kalyan since 2019 despite a dismal performance in the 2019 elections with Kalyan himself losing in two constituencies.

“Our good time has already commenced when we decided to work for ending the anarchy in the State due to the misrule of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy,’‘ K Nagababu, General Secretary, Jana Sena and elder brother of Pawan Kalyan told businessline in an interaction here.

Long before elections the popularity of its President and the party has reached new heights with an expectation that JS was even in a position to sail alone in the polls in the State with an aspiration to see Pawan Kalyan as the next Chief Minister.

However, it was a dampener for many when the party had agreed to settle for just 21 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats as part of the seat adjustments among its electoral allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Will the party lose ground in the wake of resentment and rebellious tendencies among its leaders over the TDP-JS-BJP Front?

“Definitely not. Some were apparently not happy but it happens in all political parties for the greater good of the State. The JS had to sacrifice its seats to the allies as our President realised the need to have a common front to save Andhra Pradesh from Jagan Mohan Reddy,’‘ Nagababu said.

His party, according to him, would have been “comfortable’‘ in putting up a strong show in about 120 constituencies in the State. “In the seat-sharing we also had to accommodate the BJP and I am sure the Front will have a thumping majority in the State to form the next Government,’‘ he added.

“Joining the Front was mutually beneficial to all as TDP’s electoral infrastructure, in the form of strong cadre, can be the popularity of Pawan Kalyan and Prime Minister Modi,’‘ he said.

The drivers for “success” of the Front against YSRCP is lack of development in the State and the concerns over “malpratices and mafia” in liquor, sand and land dealings, according to the JS general secretary who himself is a popular actor.

FUTURE ROLE

On the future role to be played by the party in the event of winning the mandate in the State, Nagababu said, “Pawan Kalyan worked hard to bringing TDP and BJP/NDA together and JS will continue to play a catalytic role in ensuring the development of Andhra Pradesh.’‘

On the possibility of JS joining the Government if the Front can manage to win, he said, “Definitely, there will be something or the other. But out first target for all of us is to save the people from the corruption and anarchy in the State.’‘

He is confident that the Front will easily win over 120 seats out of 175 in the elections to the State Assembly scheduled for May 13, 2024.

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