Pawan Kalyan may face new problems in Andhra Pradesh

The film actor may not lose much politically by quitting the NDA, but the BJP was pinning all hopes on him. It wanted to cash in on his fan following and put in a better performance in the 2024 general elections to silence its critics who said that it got fewer votes than even NOTA

Visakhapatnam: In leaving the NDA and totally aligning with the Telugu Desam Party, the matinee idol and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan may have erred politically. The film actor may not lose much politically by quitting the NDA, but the BJP was pinning all hopes on him. It wanted to cash in on his fan following and put in a better performance in the 2024 general elections to silence its critics who said that it got fewer votes than even NOTA.

Now, with disappointment writ large on their faces, the BJP leaders, who were going soft on him all along, may turn hostile. This will be evident from the morrow when he will not be spared by them either in public meetings and electioneering or during TV debates which will have a bearing on the poll results. Another problem he is likely to face is in the name of IT raids and ED inquiry, something that can be very embarrassing in the wake of rumours that he has been receiving funds from Chandrababu being dubbed a package star’ by his critics.

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Political observers opine that it is imprudent to trust the TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu in politics, something the latter’s close associates keep saying. Though his credibility is low in political circles, the hype Chandrababu creates in the media earned him a high place from which it is difficult to dislodge, barring some reverses in courts in the numerous cases he is involved in. The scams he is involved in of late–the Skill development, Fiber net, Amaravati inner ring road and Amaravati lands to name a few, may give him testing time. It is also likely to bring down his already tarnished image further by next year when the general elections are due.

Though Pawan Kalyan has been going hand in hand with Chandrababu since 2019, he appeared to have acted impulsively when the TDP president was arrested. There is nothing wrong in going and meeting the latter in Rajamahendravaram central prison to express solidarity with him but announcing the decision to strike an electoral pact with the TDP on the occasion surprised many. Perhaps there is more than meets the eye and what transpired during the meeting between the two leaders is not known to the outside world despite the fact that a poll understanding between both the parties is always on the cards. Maybe, Pawan Kalyan expected a sympathy wave to ride on in the wake of the arrest but that certainly is missing. He now says that the TDP had become weak and it is his duty to support it in hard times. But it is the JSP president who will face new challenges and it will be the bombardment from the BJP to begin with.