Pawan Kalyan won’t follow Chiranjeevi’s example on merger with national party

Popular Tollywood actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, whose Jana Sena Party put up a miserable show in the recent assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, is facing exactly the same situation his elder brother Chiranjeevi, a more popular actor faced nearly eight and a half years ago.

One of the tallest personalities in Telugu film industry, Chiranjeevi floated Praja Rajyam Party with a big bang in August 2008, but had to eventually merge it with the Congress under pressure in February 2011, two years after the party managed just 18 seats in the 294-member assembly with a vote share of around 17 per cent in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Chiranjeevi was made Rajya Sabha member and inducted into the Manmohan Singh cabinet as the Union minister of state for tourism and culture. Subsequently, he faded out of politics and returned to the glamour world to regain lost glory.

Like his elder brother, Pawan Kalyan is also said to be under tremendous pressure to merge his party with the Bharatiya Janata Party post the dismal show in the April 11 elections. His party won just one out of 138 seats it contested for the 175-member state assembly.

Pawan himself failed to win either of the two seats he had contested – Bhimavaram in West Godavari and Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam. The party’s vote share was a meagre 6.78 per cent with its candidates losing deposit in as many as 120 assembly seats. In the parliament elections for 25 seats in the state, it drew a complete blank.

While some of the disgruntled party leaders and workers have already started defecting to other parties, Pawan Kalyan had been under pressure to merge his party with the BJP. In fact, Pawan himself disclosed at a party meeting in Mangalagiri recently that he was being pressurized to merge his party with a “big national party.”

He, however, ruled out bowing to any such pressures. “Let them place the gun at my head and force me. But, I am not going to yield to any such threats or pressures,” he said.

Former Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker and Jana Sena politburo member Nadendla Manohar also backed Pawan’s stance. “There is no such possibility. He knows what had happened to his brother Chiranjeevi. However, we are not averse to working together with other parties on issues of public concern,” he said.

A senior BJP leader, however, said it would be a win-win situation if Pawan merged his party with the BJP.

“All said and done, Pawan is still a popular figure among the youth and has a strong backing of his Kapu community whose support can help the BJP’s rise. At the same time, it will also help Pawan sustain his political career,” the BJP leader said.

Political analyst Mallu Rajesh explained that in the recent elections, Kapus mostly voted for YSR Congress party because Pawan failed to project himself as a powerful alternative. “Though the Kapus did not vote for him, there is every possibility that a majority of them will come back to his support, if he merges Jana Sena with the BJP or joins hands with the Telugu Desam Party,” he said.

But, Jana Sena chief wants to play a longer innings than his brother in politics, as he knows he would become politically insignificant if he merges his party with the BJP.

“I am not expecting immediate miracles, as I know my strengths and weaknesses. I want to be a long-term player in politics, fighting for the rights of the people,” he said at the party workers’ meeting.

Pawan Kalyan will step up his activity from September 10, when Jagan Mohan Reddy government completes 100 days, says Manohar, “We have chalked out an action plan to be among the people in the coming days and earn their support,” he said.