YSRCP attack indicates possible TDP-Janasena patch up

The ruling YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh has unleashed an all-out attack on Janasena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan for taking up the sand scarcity issue in a preemptive attack on the possible patch-up between the old allies.

Janasena party which has won only one seat in the 2019 elections, had a share of over 7 per cent votes in the state. But the party is said to have damaged winning chances of TDP in at least 40 seats. The ruling YSRCP which has won a record 151 seats in the state reacted very sharply when the entire opposition stood behind the actor turned politician who has lost both Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram seats that he contested.

Immediately after the successful public meeting of the construction workers in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, Jaganmohan Reddy’s cabinet ministers Avanthi Srinivas, Kannababu, Dharmana Krishna Das, Anil Kumar Yadav, Vellampalli Srinivas, Member of Parliament Vijay Sai Reddy, MLAs Malladi Vishnu and Ambati Rambabu targeted Pawan Kalyan blaming him for taking sides with Telugu Desam Party.

Even though Pawan Kalyan and the senior TDP leaders that shared the dais in Visakhapatnam made no political overtures, it is said that the old friends have at least agreed to lend issue-based support for the time being. While Pawan Kalyan targeted the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government’s inability to tackle the simple issue of sand scarcity that has allegedly led to the death of over 36 construction workers in the state, the TDP found a larger forum to highlight the issue as its earlier dharna led by Naidu’s son Lokesh in Mangalagiri failed to attract the attention of the people.

It is also worth mentioning that Naidu during a closed-door meeting with senior party leaders said to have mentioned the possibility of mending ways with the Janasena by the next elections. Naidu also openly agreed that he had done a mistake by leaving the BJP fold. Political analysts are closely observing the recent bonhomie between the old friends even though the BJP has ruled out any patch up with Naidu.