The Bharatiya Janata Party national leadership, which has turned a blind eye to the Jana Sena Party headed by Pawan Kalyan’s attempts to forge an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra, is showing unusual interest in having an alliance with his party in Telangana.
This has surprised many political observers and made them wonder why the BJP is so keen on Pawan Kalyan’s support in Telangana, while ignoring his suggestions in Andhra Pradesh where it is needed most.
As a matter of fact, the Jana Sena Party has little or no presence in Telangana. Except the fan base of Pawan Kalyan, the party doesn’t have any structure or organisational network in the state, let alone strong candidates.
The party did not contest any elections in Telangana so far to test its strength, where as the BJP has considerable strength, network and people’s support in many parts of the state. Yet, it is banking on the Jana Sena Party support.
So much so that the BJP national leadership has arranged a special flight to Pawan Kalyan to come to New Delhi and hold talks with Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the alliance issue.
According to an analyst, the BJP has nothing to gain much with an alliance with Jana Sena Party in Telangana, as the latter doesn’t have any strength.
“Maybe, the BJP feels Pawan Kalyan’s glamour might fetch a few votes, if not seats, in Telangana. Moreover, the BJP doesn’t have enough candidates to contest and hence, Jana Sena may lend some candidates to it,” the analyst said.
Many BJP leaders also argue that since Jana Sena does not have much of a presence in Telangana, there is no point in having a poll alliance with the party. They are of the opinion that if the BJP forged an alliance with JSP, Pawan Kalyan would try to dominate BJP leaders and cadres affecting the coordination among party functionaries.
“Jana Sena has a lot of cadres in AP still the party managed to win only one seat in the 2019 elections. Pawan lost both his seats. What can he do in Telangana where his party has no presence?” a BJP leader asked.
