A decade after floating Jana Sena Party (JSP), Tollywood star Pawan Kalyan is still looking to establish himself as a key player in Andhra Pradesh politics but the next month’s polls may well determine his future as a politician.
While a victory for TDP-JSP-BJP alliance will result in TDP president Chandrababu Naidu becoming the chief minister for another term, Pawan’s fans will be eager to see what role he gets to play.
With ousting YSR Congress Party from power as his priority this time, the star is making calculated moves by entering into alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Also Read: Pawan Kalyan meets Chandrababu Naidu amid talk of alliance with BJP
Often criticised by his opponents for being a part-time politician, Pawan is not a man in a hurry. He is ready to bide his time and by asking his supporters and party cadres to give him five years, he has made it clear that he is here to play a long innings.
Unlike his more popular elder brother Chiranjeevi who wound up his Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) within a couple of years of its launch, Pawan is determined to carry on his fight to achieve his goal of new age politics.
By agreeing to play second fiddle to Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan has drawn flak from a section of his die-hard supporters, especially youth. He, however, knows the limitations of Jana Sena as a political entity, and by contesting a limited number of seats, he wants to avoid a repeat of 2019, when his alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties came a cropper.
Power star, as he is popularly known among fans, had to bite the dust in both the Assembly seats he contested in 2019. The lone MLA elected on Jana Sena ticket also switched loyalties to YSR Congress later.
Aware of his strengths and weaknesses, the 52-year-old is cautious not to repeat his past mistakes and this is the reason he did not bargain hard for seats. He agreed to bring down the number of seats to a realistic level to ensure that the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance materialises to avoid a split of anti-YSRCP votes.
A bitter critic of Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, he is determined to put an end to what he calls the evil rule of YSRCP. Analysts say Pawan displayed maturity in seat sharing talks to make sure that the alliance takes shape.
He tried to pacify his party cadres that if Jana Sena had won a few seats in 2019 polls, it could have bargained for a higher number of seats. Analysts say Pawan Kalyan recognised the fact that JSP has limited political space as state politics is currently dominated by two regional parties.
He displayed maturity and was quite realistic which led to the forging of a tripartite alliance. Pawan initially wanted 42 Assembly seats (out of a total 175) but he climbed down to 24. Later, to bring BJP on board, he finally settled for 21 seats. Similarly, he agreed to two Lok Sabha seats (out of 25), down from three that TDP had offered before BJP came forward to join hands.
In 2019, Pawan had contested from Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram from Visakhapatnam and West Godavari districts respectively but lost in both places to the YSR Congress candidates.
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