Come March 14, the Jana Sena will complete nine years of its existence. Unlike many other political parties, which came with a bang and ended soon with a whimper, the Jana Sena stood through the trials and tribulations for nine long years. It is not only very much alive, but is kicking too.
The Praja Rajyam, the NTR Telugu Desam, the Janata Party and Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s party came and went. Only TDP and the YSRCP managed to win the elections. But, the Jana Sena has proved the critics wrong by staying active all these years. In 2014, Pawan backed the TDP-BJP alliance with the ‘build AP’ slogan. This helped the TDP to come to power.
In 2019, he parted company with the TDP and the TDP lost the election badly. This shows that Pawan Kalyan and his party can play a key role in determining the fortunes of the two major parties. So, his moves for the 2024 election assumed great significance. The question is – will he align with the TDP against the YSRCP or will he plough a lonely furrow.
The ruling YSRCP is targeting him because of his proximity to the TDP. However, his has not yet firmed up his alliance with the TDP. He still is not decided whether to side with the TDP or not. Or will he float a non-BJP, non-TDP opposition alliance. In fact, he formed an alliance with the Left in the 2019 elections, but got routed in the process.
As of now, the party has no leader worth the name except for Nadendla Manohar. All those who associated with him in the beginning are no longer with him. There is no organizational network for the party. No organizational buildup is present at the booth level. As a result, except for a charismatic leader, the party has nothing to boast of.
Given this situation, what will be the strategy of the party for the 2024 elections? Will Pawan Kalyan grow from a weekend politician to a regular politician, who works 365 days a year? Will he come clean on whether he would align with the TDP or not? Let’s wait and see how Pawan Kalyan decides.
