Jana Sena Party president and power star Pawan Kalyan might be appealing to the people to bring his party to power in Andhra Pradesh in the next assembly elections and give him an opportunity to rule the state.
But sources close to the party say Pawan is contemplating restricting his party to only a limited number of seats where it has some strong support base and has brighter prospects of winning, instead of fielding candidates in a large number of constituencies.
According to these sources, Pawan is likely to field candidates in around 40 assembly seats where the party is strong, of which he wants the party to win at least 30 seats.
“Instead of putting all the eggs in one basket, he wants that the party should make an impact on the people even in limited number of seats,” a source said.
He said there is no point in contesting all the seats and win just a handful of seats.
“Pawan is of the view that if he can focus on a few seats, it is not difficult to win them. Secondly, he knows that it is not possible to find right candidates in all the seats. If they are defeated, the party would get a bad name,” the source said.
That is why, the Jana Sena chief is preferring to have an electoral understanding with the Telugu Desam Party, so that he can bargain for just 40 seats.
“Pawan has a lot of clarity as to which seats his party should ask for as part of the alliance. There is no point in taking the seats where chances of winning are bleak just for the sake of alliance,” the source said.
Apparently, Pawan is targeting select seats in East and West Godavari districts, besides Krishna, Guntur, Visakhapanam, Vizianagaram, Anantapur and Kurnool.
“If he can win at least 30 seats, he can play the role of a king maker,” the source said.
But the question is whether TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu will give so any seats to Jana Sena as part of alliance.
Even if he gives, one doubts whether the TDP will sacrifice the seats to be chosen by Pawan.
