Pawan Kalyan vows Jana Sena will contest 2029 Telangana polls

Pawan Kalyan, Jana Sena Party founder, declared his party will contest the 2029 general elections in Telangana, sparking controversy over his past remarks on Telangana’s formation and land issues. His statements targeted Congress and emphasised that Telangana was not anyone’s fiefdom.

Hyderabad: Political heat in Telangana went up by a few notches on Tuesday, after the Jana Sena Party (JSP) founder Pawan Kalyan declared that his party would contest the 2029 general elections in Telangana, declaring that the newly formed state was not anyone’s ‘fiefdom’.

The actor-turned-politician literally stirred a hornet’s nest by seeking to justify his comments on Telangana State formation with his argument that he had expressed his pain and fasted for 11 days over the way in which the united Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated, but his protest was not against Telangana.

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His earlier statement that he had fasted for 11 days after Telangana was formed had hit a raw nerve among people in Telangana and buttressed the feeling that the AP Deputy Chief Minister was against Telangana. Another statement of his that Telangana had cast an evil eye on Konaseema in AP was also detested by Telanganites.

Pawan Kalyan stirred up a political controversy with his decision to convene a meeting christened ‘Telangana Nava nirmana Sankalpa Sabha’ for which the Hyderabad police denied permission.

Subsequently, the AP Deputy CM had called for a press conference at his house in Jubilee Hills even as a controversy surfaced over his land stretch on the city outskirts. His detractors claimed that the land was a water body and that it was encroached.

He rebutted the charge that was going viral on social media and challenged that if the government proved that it was encroached ‘he would hand it over to the Government’.

The now-cancelled meeting of Jana Sena activists was actually seen as a response to a controversy after a YouTube influencer made some comments about Pawan Kalyan’s interaction with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, following which a severe social media storm broke out.

Pawan Kalyan had announced that he had respect for the influencer after the latter withdrew his comments. Nevertheless, a police case was filed against the influencer in AP, which further fuelled the controversy and snowballed into an AP versus Telangana issue.

In this backdrop, Pawan Kalyan’s declaration that JSP would contest polls assumed political significance. Many Telangana intellectuals saw it as an initiative backed by the BJP to gain further foothold in Telangana.

The AP Deputy CM also recalled his comments on Telangana’s evil eye on Konaseema and said he was misunderstood by people pointing out that businessmen or people from both the states were working comfortably. “People should realise this,” he stressed.

Clad in a white kurta and surrounded by his followers sporting JSP stoles, Pawan Kalyan maintained that he would raise his voice against every injustice in Telangana.

“We have already started our work here. We worked for 10 years in Andhra Pradesh before achieving success,” he recalled.

To a query on JSP having an alliance, he said it was too early and either way, the Telangana BJP had declared that it would contest GHMC elections independently. Similarly, he said Jana Sena leaders would also be free to contest.

Recalling developments in 2014, he said he had been offered an opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha election from the Malkajgiri constituency as an NDA candidate. He reminded that his party was founded in Hyderabad and has one lakh party workers in Telangana.

On the denial of police permission for his party meeting, Pawan Kalyan responded strongly saying Telangana was not the fiefdom of anyone. He targeted the Congress and sought to know from Rahul Gandhi why Congress leaders were against his entry into Telangana.

He said Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi contested elections in Wayanad, while former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi contested from Medak and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao from Nandyal.

“But Jana Sena and Pawan Kalyan should not step into Telangana. What a contradiction and hypocrisy from Congress. Should we carry a passport to visit States in India?” he wondered.

Pawan Kalyan also hit back at his detractors in Congress arguing “…these leaders remained silent when late YS Rajasekhara Reddy opposed Telangana formation. CPM and AIMIM also opposed Telangana. Why don’t these leaders talk about those parties?” he said.

“Who are these leaders to stop me? Is Telangana their fiefdom?” he asked.