A kind of ‘mistrust’ seems to have crept into the alliance of the Jana Sena Party (JSP) and the Left parties with the JSP chief Pawan Kalyan unilaterally deciding to change the Vijayawada Lok Sabha candidate. The JSP president has announced that his party would field Muttamsetti Prasad Babu at a time when the CPI candidate Chalasani Ajay Kumar, son of veteran Communist leader Chalasani Venkatratnam, was all set to file his nomination for the Lok Sabha segment.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan on Saturday addressed two public meetings in Vijayawada.
The CPI leaders and cadres, however, were conspicuously absent indicating that there was a gulf between the CPI and the JSP. Mr. Pawan Kalyan, at a public meeting at Komala Vilas Centre in the city, even said that he had a lengthy argument with the CPI State secretary K.Ramakrishna over the issue.
The CPI rank and file, however, fret and fume that the actor turned politician did not keep his word. “Establishing contact with Mr. Pawan Kalyan immediately after the announcement has been not that easy as it used to be,” a Left leader said.
Later, the JSP leaders told the Left leaders that an Assembly constituency would be allotted to the CPI in lieu of the Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat, CPI sources say.
‘Word not kept’
The CPI and CPI(M) were given seven Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats each initially. Later, the CPI was given three Lok Sabha seats – Kadapa, Anantapur and Vijayawada – and six Assembly seats. “We did not ask for too many seats. Still, the JSP chief has failed to honour the agreement,” says a CPI leader, who did not want to be quoted.
Sharply reacting to the decision, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) have asserted that the JSP “should honour the alliance dharma.” They, however, did not insist that the CPI be allowed to contest from the Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat as per the original plans. Instead, they were still negotiating even though only a day is left for the filing of nominations, which will end on Monday. It is learnt that the CPI will be asked to contest from the Gannavaram Assembly constituency.
Maintaining that ‘problems come and go’, the CPI State secretary says Mr. Pawan Kalyan should have discussed with the alliance partners in case he felt a need to change the candidate. As he has given a word, he should have stuck to it. The CPI will sort out the issues, if any, he adds.
