The Jana Sena Party, led by actor politician Pawan Kalyan, on Thursday clarified that it is not leaving the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The party said Pawan Kalyan did not say at the public meeting on Wednesday that he had left the BJP-led NDA to support the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Jana Sena General Secretary Bolisetty Satyanarayana clarified that Pawan Kalyan, in his speech, said that though he is in the NDA, he is coming out to say that Jana Sena will support TDP as they are weak now.
Stating that Jana Sena remained a part of NDA, Satyanarayana said they would also be with the TDP.
Addressing a public meeting as part of his Varahi yatra at Pedana in Krishna district, Pawan Kalyan said that he came out to support the TDP in difficult times.
"Despite difficulties we had joined the NDA. Now we have come out and extended 100 per cent support to the TDP because it is going through difficult times,” he said, referring to the arrest of TDP leader and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in alleged skill development scam.
After meeting Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail on September 14, Pawan Kalyan had announced that Jana Sena will contest the 2024 elections in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the TDP. He had hoped that BJP will also join hands with them to avoid a split of votes to end the "misrule" of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
At the public meeting on Wednesday, Pawan Kalyan said that Andhra Pradesh needs the TDP’s experience of four decades and the Jana Sena’s young blood. He exuded confidence that the TDP-JSP alliance will come to power in 2024. The actor said in 2021 he took a decision to come together with like-minded parties to avoid split of votes to oust YSR Congress Party from power. The Jana Sena leader recalled that in 2014 he extended support to Narendra Modi and Naidu for the golden future of Andhra Pradesh. Almost 10 years have passed but unfortunately this could not be achieved.
There is no use in regretting what happened. “Past is past. Now we have to look towards the future,” he said.
Pawan Kalyan had campaigned for the TDP-BJP alliance in 2014 elections and the alliance had come to power in the state. He, however, later distanced himself from both the parties for failing to deliver on the promise of special category state to Andhra Pradesh.
In 2018, the TDP also snapped ties with the BJP, accusing the party of failing to fulfill the commitments made to the state. Jana Sena contested the 2019 elections in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties. However, the alliance had to bite the dust.
Jana Sena could win just one seat in the 175-member Assembly while the YSRCP stormed to power by bagging 151 seats while the TDP, which went alone, won 23 seats. The BJP, which had won four seats in 2014, drew a blank.
However, a few months after the elections Pawan Kalyan revived his alliance with the BJP. For the last couple of years, he had been making efforts to forge a grand alliance among TDP, BJP and Jana Sena.