Janasena, TDP to fight next elections together; ruling YSRCP calls it move to form alliance with BJP

RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Janasena Party and TDP will go together in the next elections as Andhra Pradesh cannot afford the rule of YSRCP, party chief Pawan Kalyan said here on Thursday, while the ruling party said it is likely a move to bring BJP into their alliance.

Kalyan made the announcement about the alliance outside the Rajamahendravaram central prison after meeting TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who is detained there for his alleged role in a multi-crore Skill Development Corporation scam.

The actor-cum-politician who is the chief of the Janasena Party, which is NDA's partner in the state, had been dillydallying all this while as to whether both parties would contest the forthcoming polls together.

''Andhra Pradesh can't afford YSRCP. I have made the decision today. Janasena and TDP will go together in the next elections,'' Kalyan told reporters, accompanied by Naidu's son and party general secretary Nara Lokesh and Hindupur MLA and Naidu's brother-in-law Nandamuri Balakrishna.

Moreover, he said that he had complete faith in the BJP that it would join the two opposition parties for the polls.

"I hope and believe in this and this will only happen. BJP's complete support will be there for this," Kalyan claimed.

On the arrest of former CM Chandrababu Naidu, Kalyan said he would not just condemn it by declaring his stand, but by asserting that the two parties would work together whenever the elections are held.

Speaking about meeting Naidu in prison, Kalyan said he checked on the opposition leader's health and expressed his heartfelt pain over seeing him in this situation.

Kalyan said he may have earlier differed with Naidu on policy, but never had a bad impression of him personally.

Elaborating on what the immediate plan of action would be for the two parties, Kalyan said they would begin put together a joint action committee and take some other important steps.

Janasena, founded in the run-up to the 2014 assembly and Lok Sabha elections, supported the alliance of TDP and BJP at the time, but severed ties with both parties before the 2019 polls. It faced a debacle in the 2019 assembly elections, where it contested alone, with Kalyan himself facing a humiliating defeat in two constituencies, Bhimavaram and Gajuwaka.

Moreover, the lone winner from Janasena, Rapaka Varaprasada from Razole constituency, deserted the party. However, Janasena had managed to secure over six per cent vote share in the 2019 assembly elections.

Reacting to the Janasena chief's announcement, senior YSRCP leader and adviser to the government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said Kalyan would say and do whatever Naidu wants.

"Why didn't he (Kalyan) talk about this alliance all these days? Maybe because Naidu would have entrusted him (Kalyan) to bring BJP also into their fold. He could have been inside the BJP camp and tried to bring it into alliance with the TDP or he would have created a platform for himself as per his need," said Reddy.

According to Reddy, all these days Kalyan acted as if he had an independent identity but would always mirror Naidu's sayings in the garb of an independent person, but ''he just took off his mask'' now.

Reacting to Kalyan's statement, BJP's Andhra Pradesh wing said that political alliances would be decided at the party's headquarters in Delhi.