VIJAYAWADA/TIRUPATI : In what is seen as a clearest indication yet of a possible realignment of political equations in the State, Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday said he had never distanced himself from the BJP but he had differed with the saffron party on the issue of Special Category Status (SCS) to the State. Pawan Kalyan also toed the line of RSS when it comes to religious conversion and asked the YSRC government to react on the alleged conversion of around 40 persons on the banks of river Krishna or it can be assumed by the people that the government is encouraging such acts.
In the same breath, the JSP chief once again referred to Amit Shah and said he has great respect towards the latter. Pawan Kalyan, who was on a tour of Rayalaseema region, created a stir in the state politics by throwing enough hints that he is inclined towards the BJP. “I had never distanced myself from the BJP. I had only differed with the saffron party on the SCS issue as it was people’s aspiration,’’ he said and added that the fate of the YSRC would had been different if he had met with Narendra Modi and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu before 2019 elections. The JSP supported the TDP-BJP combine in the State in the 2014 elections.
Asked pin-pointedly about the possibilities of his party aligning with the BJP, he replied back, “I don’t know.’’ Elaborating on the political necessities, he referred to the coming together of parties with difference ideologies like the CPI, BJP and even the BSP for separate statehood of Telangana. He, however, said differences have cropped up between TDP and Jana Sena before elections making it impossible to strike a poll pact.
Responding on his recent comments on BJP president Amit Shah, he said that he had respect towards the BJP leader whereas the YSRC leaders have fear towards the national leader.Kalyan’s sudden affinity with the BJP comes days after his visit to Delhi where he reportedly met national leaders of the saffron party. Similarly, he choose to intensify his pitch against the ruling YSRC after the success of his Long March in Visakhapatnam against the sand scarcity that hit the construction sector a couple of months back.
Throwing hints of tilting towards the BJP on one side, Kalyan chose to target the YSRC by raising the contentious issue of rise in religious conversions linking it with the present government. “I am secularist and I raise voice against any discrimination or issue related to any other religion. Similarly, I will raise my voice when my own religion comes under attack. I will stand to protect my religion. I will raise my voice for protecting Sanatana Hindu Dharma,’’ he said.The BJP, on the other hand, welcomed Kalyan’s statements but said it wants the merger of JSP into the BJP rather than forging an alliance with the party.
Jana Sena can merge with the BJP, says GVL
Hours after Pawan Kalyan clarified that he never distanced himself from BJP, saffron party Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao said that it would be a welcome move if Pawan Kalyan proposes to merge his party with the national party. In the same breath, however, GVL slammed him for alleging that Hindu leaders and parties were responsible for the communal violence and intolerance in the country, and asked the remarks be taken back. Speaking to mediapersons, GVL recalled that Pawan rejected the BJP’s proposal to merge the latter’s party prior to elections