AMARAVATI: R K Roja, tourism minsiternof Andhra Pradesh has dared actor and Jana Sena Party leader Pawan Kalyan to contest the polls against Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
She claimed that N. Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), benefited from Pawan Kalyan's launch of the Jana Sena Party (JSP). She addressed Pawan Kalyan, who had asserted two days prior that JSP would win the upcoming Assembly elections, "First you get elected as councillor and MLA and then talk about winning Assembly elections."
Roja slammed Pawan Kalyan harshly and said that because of his behaviour, movie stars were hanging their heads in shame. She said that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) will only gain 67 seats in the 175-member Assembly in the next elections, contrary to Pawan's prediction.
Roja claimed that the actor founded the party for the benefit of the TDP and its leader Chandrababu Naidu in response to the JSP leader's claim that his support of the TDP in 2014 was to protect the interests of the state after bifurcation. She claimed that Nara Lokesh, the son of Chandrababu Naidu and the TDP general secretary, had forced Pawan Kalyan to postpone his yatra as a result.
Despite supporting the TDP-BJP coalition during the 2014 elections, Pawan chose not to run for office. Later, he was dissatisfied with both the TDP and the BJP and attacked them for failing to protect the state's interests.
After severing connections with the TDP and BJP, Pawan's party teamed up with the Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to compete in the 2019 elections. However, the YSRCP quickly took control after capturing 151 seats. Only one seat was won by JSP, while Pawan himself lost both of the seats he ran for.
Pawan said, the JSP ran for office in 2019 in an effort to grow its influence inside the state. "In politics, experiencing defeat in an election is extremely common. I am not deterred and I won't give up," he said.
In 2020, Pawan, the younger brother of the legendary Chiranjeevi, once more allied himself with the BJP. He recently stated that he intends to unite all of the opposition parties in order to prevent a split in the anti-YSRCP vote in the elections of 2024.
Large industries brought in investments totaling Rs 46,280 cr for AP
