Three days after actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan announced that his party Jana Sena Party would be contesting the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, the party announced a change in decision on Friday. The party chief Pawan Kalyan announced that Jana Sena Party would be giving its unconditional support to the BJP.
Announcing that Jana Sena Party (JSP) will refrain from contesting in the GHMC polls, party chief Pawan Kalyan said, “Under any circumstances, not a single vote should be lost (by the BJP). Even though Jana Sena Party cadres are a little disappointed, we are doing this in the larger interest of the welfare of the people of Hyderabad, because BJP must win the GHMC elections.” He also added that if JSP and BJP had had more time to conduct talks beforehand, JSP would’ve been able to contest.
Union Minister G Kishen Reddy and former BJP Chief Dr K Laxman who is presently the OBC Chairperson met Pawan Kalyan to discuss how both the parties could work together in the upcoming elections. The Minister of State took to Twitter to announce the meeting. Following the meeting, the leaders addressed the media and announced their decision.
Kishen Reddy said that BJP leaders sought cooperation from Pawan Kalyan. “Pawan Kalyan has kindly agreed to cooperate with us to achieve an absolute victory for the BJP,” he said.
విస్తృత ప్రజా ప్రయోజనాల దృష్ట్యా పోటీ నుంచి ఉపసంహరణ
— JanaSena Party (@JanaSenaParty) November 20, 2020
Video Link : https://t.co/IPdNJlsX6X pic.twitter.com/pV7yejfWhC
On Thursday, there was speculation and rumours doing the rounds after the Jana Sena party announced that BJP leaders would be meeting Pawan Kalyan. However, soon Rakesh Reddy, BJP’s official spokesperson announced that no such meeting was scheduled. He said, “It has come to our notice that Janasena has released a letter to the media saying BJP leaders will meet Pawan Kalyan. There is no such meeting scheduled between Pawan and BJP leaders.”
The Jana Sena Party has contested the Lok Sabha election in Telangana, that was the only time the party has contested an election in the state. During the assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, the Jana Sena contested 140 seats.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the Jana Sena party in an official note stated, “A decision to participate in the GHMC elections has been taken after a proposal from the young cadre of the Janasena party. There have already been certain meetings at the various committee levels regarding this issue and we are reviewing our activities at the ground level.”