Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan, in what could be termed as a bitter reply to his critics, explained the reasons behind accepting 24 Assembly constituencies seats as part of the seat-sharing arrangement with its ally, the TDP.
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Addressing the ‘Jenda’, the first public meeting of the JSP-TDP combine here on Wednesday, Mr. Pawan Kalyan urged party cadres, sympathisers and advisers to understand the ground realities.
“The party has to take various issues into consideration while deciding the seats. The JSP has to first put the State on the right track, keeping the future of the State ahead of individual and party prospects,” he said..
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“The JSP is still a growing party. Leaders are developing. Do we have booth-level cadres? At least 1,000 workers are needed at the booth level,” he said.
“Accepting and working by considering the reality is not lowering my stature. I may have accepted 24 seats, but it is enough to defeat YSRCP president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy,” he observed.
“Lord Vamana asked for three-foot land and sent Bali Chakravarthy to ‘pathala’. The JSP is like Vamana, and it will send Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to pathala,” he said.
Expressing the view that electioneering had become a costly affair, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said, “You need ₹50 crore to ₹100 crore per constituency for elections. Do we have the leaders who can spend such huge amounts?”
“The JSP is still poor in electioneering, and that is why I have joined hands with the four-decade-old experienced leader Mr. Chandrababu Naidu,” he added.