VIJAYAWADA: In what came as a disappointment to the leaders and cadre of the Jana Sena Party, its president Pawan Kalyan announced that the party will be contesting only 24 Assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.
This newspaper had earlier reported that the TDP would concede around 30 Assembly and 10 Lok Sabha seats to JSP and BJP for the ensuing elections.
At a joint press conference on Saturday, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan released the first list of 99 candidates. While the yellow party announced names for 94 Assembly seats, JSP named candidates for five constituencies. The actor-politician, however, is yet to declare from where he will be contesting.
Speaking to reporters at Naidu’s residence in Undavalli, the JSP chief reiterated that the objective of forming an alliance was to ensure there was no split in the anti-YSRC vote.
On contesting from fewer number of seats, Pawan explained, “Instead of experimenting, the JSP decided to act constructively and contest less number of seats so as to ensure a 98% strike rate. In fact, by contesting three Lok Sabha seats in addition to 24 Assembly constituencies, we are in a way contesting some 40 seats. We are also considering the possibility of the BJP joining the alliance and hence decided to contest a fewer seats.”
Further, he observed that had the party won at least 10 segments in 2019, they could have negotiated for more seats. Among the 94 candidates that the TDP has announced, 23 are new faces.
Highlighting that the list comprises 28 candidates with post-graduate degrees, 50 graduates, three doctors, two Ph.D holders, and an ex-IAS officer, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu quipped, “On the other hand, the YSRC list has red sanders smugglers and rowdies.”
Naidu pointed out that for the first time in Indian politics, the candidates were chosen after considering the opinion of more than 1.3 crore people.
Through the initiative, he said, the TDP-JSP aims to decentralise power, placing the aspirations and voices of the people of the State at the forefront of their political agenda. Sounding the poll bugle, he said, “The TDP-JSP alliance is ready for the battle of ballots.”
Further, the TDP supremo asserted that talks with the BJP to form a three-party alliance are still underway. Regarding the remaining 57 seats, he explained that a decision on how they will be shared will be taken once the discussions with the saffron party conclude.
Similarly, an announcement on the sharing of 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats will be made soon, he added.
The first list of candidates evoked a mixed response from the TDP cadre. While those who received the ticket were jubilant, the ones who felt overlooked, expressed their ire. Some even decided to quit the party. However, a few leaders decided to wait and watch if they would find a place among the remaining 57 seats.