BJP, Jana Sena join hands, announce alliance in Andhra Pradesh | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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BJP, Jana Sena join hands, announce alliance in Andhra Pradesh

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByHT Correspondent & Agencies
Jan 16, 2020 04:57 PM IST

Pawan Kalyan, who is the youngest brother of popular film star and former Union minister K Chiranjeevi, launched the Jana Sena Party before 2014 general elections.

After extensive talks that stretched up to the level of the top leaderships of both parties, the BJP and Jana Sena on Thursday formally announced their alliance, seeking to emerge as the “third alternative” in Andhra Pradesh.

Jana Sena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan (right) met BJP working president JP Nadda in New Delhi on Monday.(ANI Photo)
Jana Sena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan (right) met BJP working president JP Nadda in New Delhi on Monday.(ANI Photo)

Jana Sena chief and Telugu film actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan and Andhra Pradesh BJP president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana announced the alliance at a meeting in Vijayawada and said it would work to end “casteist, dynastic and corrupt” regimes.

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The alliance would certainly clinch power in the state in 2024, they asserted.

“From the upcoming elections to the local bodies, our alliance will fight together till the 2024 general elections for the betterment of the state. Our alliance is intended to protect the state,” they said.

BJP state in-charge Sunil Deodhar stressed that there was no question of any realignment with the TDP.

Pawan Kalyan had on Monday met BJP working president J P Nadda in New Delhi. Both the Jana Sena and the BJP have been reduced to the margins in Andhra Pradesh.

In December, Pawan had hinted at forging an alliance with the BJP soon. He had told reporters at Tirupati then that he had never distanced himself from the BJP but was very much associated with it. “Political equations keep changing with time in the interests of the people. One should look at the change only in spirit of the Constitution,” Pawan had said.

The actor, who is the youngest brother of popular film star and former Union minister K Chiranjeevi, launched the Jana Sena Party before 2014 general elections and supported the BJP-Telugu Desam Party combine in Andhra Pradesh, but did not contest the elections.

In 2019, Pawan differed with the BJP and the TDP and contested the elections in alliance with the CPI, CPI (M) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The alliance fared badly in the elections with the JSP winning just one seat in the 175-member assembly.

Pawan himself failed to win either of the two seats he had contested – Bhimavaram in West Godavari and Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam. The party registered a meagre vote share of 6.78 per cent and lost deposits in as many as 120 assembly seats. In the Lok Sabha elections for 25 seats in the state, it drew a blank.

The BJP could not win a single seat either in the assembly or the Lok Sabha.

Unveiling 'Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch Now!

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