VIJAYAWADA: Giving a shocker to his ally BJP, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan out of the blue announced that his party is not contesting the October 30 Badvel Assembly by-election.
He made the announcement at a public meeting in Kothacheruvu of Anantapur district on Saturday evening. Stating that the decision was taken after consulting his party men as the ruling party has made the wife of the incumbent as the candidate.
He said out of respect for the wife of incumbent MLA Venkatasubbaiah, who passed away, the JSP is withdrawing from the elections. He urged other parties to make the election unanimous. Pawan’s announcement came two days after his talks with BJP state chief Somu Veeraju on deciding the alliance candidate for the by-election. The BJP had said that a decision would be taken after consultation with its national leadership.
Now, with Pawan's shocking announcement, it has to be seen how the BJP will respond. Will it field its own candidate or follow JSP’s example and withdraw from the contest? Only time will tell.