The Telugu Desam Party has decided to rope in film star and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan for its election campaign in Seemandhra region.
Towards this end, TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu called on Mr. Pawan Kalyan before leaving for his campaign in Adilabad district. The unscheduled meeting came as a surprise to TDP leaders too and it assumed significance in the light of media reports about the differences between the two.
The TDP leader invited the star to campaign for the TDP-BJP candidates in Seemandhra and got assurance of total cooperation. The two leaders discussed campaign strategy in the region to woo young voters and the TDP president informed Mr. Pawan Kalyan that a road map was drafted to reach out to maximum number of voters.
The film star has been in active consultation with the BJP and TDP leaders after announcing his decision to work for making Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the Prime Minister and BJP-TDP leaders saw an opportunity in Mr. Pawan campaigning for them, as he is considered a big crowd puller.
Emerging from the meeting, the actor-turned-politician said he was firm on delivering his best to see that Mr. Modi became the Prime Minister. “The election provides us with an opportunity to avoid remote-controlled Prime Minister,” he said. Candidates were not fielded on behalf of the Jana Sena Party only to avoid votes getting split. He said he was pained with the way the State was divided by the Congress and was confident that a BJP-led NDA government alone could instil confidence among people and ensure accelerated development of the two new States.
The actor asserted that he would extend his support to the TDP-BJP alliance’s Malkajgiri candidate Ch. Malla Reddy. Though he was a supporter of Lok Satta president Jayaprakash Narayan, he would campaign for Mr. Malla Reddy as it was part of the “alliance dharma”.