HYDERABAD: After discussions with top BJP leaders, the Jana Sena Party, on Friday announced that it would not contest the ensuing GHMC elections. Extending full support to the BJP, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan appealed to his party candidates to withdraw their nominations.
Pawan Kalyan said he doesn’t want a split in votes as it would hamper the BJP’s chances of bagging the Hyderabad Mayor’s post.On Friday, a BJP delegation led by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy along with BJP GHMC election committee convenor Dr K Laxman met Pawan Kalyan at Nadendla Manohar’s residence. The latter is political affairs committee chairman of Jana Sena Party.
Speaking on the occasion, Pawan Kalyan said, “The Bihar and Dubbaka election results have shown how strong the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is. There was a communication gap between the party leadership and Jana Sena karyakartas due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I know your sentiments will be hit but let us spare this election. Keeping in mind that Hyderabad is set to emerge as a global city under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have decided to extend full support to the BJP.”
The Jana Sena has an alliance with the BJP in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. When the election notification was issued, Pawan Kalyan stated that his party would contest in 56 divisions. BJP state president Bandi Sanjay on Thursday had ruled out any alliance with Jana Sena.
Netizens voice their take on Twitter
Soon after the Jana Sena Party announced that it would not contest the poll but support the BJP, Twitter was abuzz with netizens posting their opinion about it. The hashtag, #GHMCElections, which had been trending for a few days now, was used all the more on Friday in nearly 7,000 tweets. Memes in support of and mocking the Jana Sena Party flooded the platform. Meanwhile, most tweets were in support of the pink party, with the hashtags #GHMC withTRS and #VoteforCar. A common tweet used by TRS supporters targeting the BJP was, ‘You have two options, One - An international level standard leader with loads of vision, Another - A verbal abuser with no commitment’