The Jana Sena is currently in alliance with the BJP and the Opposition hopes to put up a united front in the Assembly elections in order to offer a fight to the ruling YSRCP. In the last elections Jana Sena and TDP fought separately and performed disastrously.
An electoral alliance between the two parties did not augur well for the YSRCP, since it had won many seats only because the Jana Sena led by popular actor Pawan Kalyan had eaten into the TDP’s vote bank in 2019 elections.
There is a political buzz in the state, given the frequent meetings between Kalyan and N Chandrababu Naidu that the two parties are most likely to form an alliance before polls. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s challenge to the two parties should be read in this context.
The Chief Minister, while addressing a rally at Tenali, said: “My government has fulfilled almost all promises made and achieved remarkable good for the people. I am fearless and we will contest all the 175 seats on our own. I challenge TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and his adopted son (Pawan Kalyan) to contest individually. Do the two parties have the courage to fight polls in all 175 seats all alone?”
Reddy was disbursing financial assistance to farmers under YSR Rythu Bharosa- PM Kisan scheme in Tenali town of Guntur district today. Guntur has been a stronghold of the TDP since the founding of the party yet it suffered a humiliating defeat in 2019 elections with senior leaders like Kodela Siva Prasad biting the dust.
However, the TDP is trying to win back its former turf with Jana Sena’s help while the YSRCP which has won over the minorities will have to put down internal bickering to retain its grip over the region.