Is Pawan Kalyan tilting towards BJP to fill political vacuum in Andhra Pradesh?

Amaravati: Is Pawan Kalyan trying to fill the political vacuum in Andhra Pradesh? Is he ready to take the help of the saffron party to be stronger in AP politics? His aggression towards the ruling party confirms that he wanted to play a very ‘crucial’ role in Andhra politics. His statement that he is not distant to BJP also hints at another political alliance in the offing.

As and when YSRCP took the reins of Andhra Pradesh, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan has become a very active politician. He is not sparing Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government in any issue, and even he is ready to come on to the streets against the government. Political analysts wonder about the drastic change in Pawan, after the worst poll debacle of Telugu Desam Party.

Pawan Kalyan was not very critical about the yellow party on the latter’s tenure from 2014 to 2019. He used to meet the N Chandrababu Naidu, and there were cordial relations between them. He used to fight for the people on issues such as the Uddanam kidney problem or against the establishment of Food Park in West Godavari. However, in the last two years of the Chandrababu regime, Pawan was very serious about corruption. His allegations against Nara Lokesh became sensational and irked the then ruling party.

Now, Pawan has become a changed man. He wants to be in the people and sparing no words to criticise the present government — be it the sand problem, shifting of capital or introduction of English medium in government schools. He seems to feel that he is going to replace the opposition, as the future of Telugu Desam is dismal. He is touring every nook and cranny of the state. He appears in the media almost every day to criticise the government. Pawan is the first person to respond when there is negative news on Jagan’s government.

There was a new political movement when Pawan declared on Wednesday that he is not against BJP. He told media at Tirupathi that he opposed the saffron party, as it did not announce special category status to Andhra Pradesh. He cleared the air by announcing that there are no ideological differences between the two parties. He doesn’t want to become a “pseudo-secularist”. He went on saying that he respects the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao reacted positively to Pawan’s statement. He told media that their party would welcome the Jana Sena chief if he merges his party with BJP. “We asked Pawan to merge Jana Sena with BJP, before assembly elections. However, he didn’t respond positively,” informed Narasimha Rao.

Political analyst Prasada Reddy says that Pawan Kalyan’s move seems to be strategic. “BJP is trying to strengthen its base in Andhra Pradesh. It wants a solid vote bank. Therefore, it may join with Pawan Kalyan, as he has the Kapu community behind him. In contrast, there is a doubt whether people accept Pawan as a leader. He is not a strong personality. His language and body language may not be suitable to become a popular leader,” opined Prasada Reddy.