Marthi Subrahmanyam
Vijayawada
Film-actor-turned-politician Jana Sena chief K Pawan Kalyan’s visit to any place is generally accompanied by much fanfare, sometimes courting controversy. Thousands of his fans rock with enthusiasm, whistle to greet him, and throngs of his followers do everything to catch a glimpse of the Power Star wherever he goes. But this is all only one side of the coin.
The admiration and affection showered upon Pawan, however, failed to win him votes in the last General Elections. Why such a fate had befallen him is a billion-dollar question political pundits are yet to address with precision.
Is Pawan Kalyan going in the wrong direction by aspiring for the coveted Chief Minister post of AP by thinking that his fan following is his strength? Is he under the impression that the massive turnout of people would fetch him votes? These are the questions uppermost on the minds of political analysts now.
Political experts say that without strengthening the party at the booth level, and without senior leaders to formulate a political strategy, Pawan Kalyan is trying to win the elections.
Moreover, a section of leaders in the JSP is unable to digest Nadendla Manohar playing a vital role in the party as he belongs to the Kamma community. JSP leaders openly say that Nadendla Manohar is in favour of an alliance with the TDP hoping to win some seats with Kamma community votes.
Except for Nadendla Monohar, most of the other leaders in the JSP have no political experience and charisma to win elections. No other leader is in a position to advise Pawan Kalyan.
Political analysts say Pawan Kalyan visited Ippatam village recently which dented the party image as he was misled by the leaders. In fact, compound walls were demolished in the village but the leaders propagated the houses of those who gave their fields to organise a meeting were razed to the ground.The court imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine on each of the 14 farmers, exposing the JSP’s hasty reaction to the issue. This all happened because the JSP has no political strategist.
Moreover, Pawan Kalyan is also drawing flak from the political parties that he is involved in political activities whenever there are no film shootings. “How can Pawan Kalyan come to power if he does part-time politics? Senior leader Chandrababu Naidu himself has found it difficult to fight against Jagan Mohan Reddy,” the leaders pointed out.
Pawan Kalyan is facing accusations from the political parties that he fought over the issues like privatisation of VSP and the grant of SCS previously but now he has kept quiet as he is in alliance with the BJP. “What can he achieve if he is not in a position to question the Centre on these issues?” ask his rivals.
Political experts say that the JSP can hardly contest from 30 Assembly constituencies out of 175. They recalled that when NTR floated the TDP, political stalwarts like Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, Jana Reddy, Nallapureddy Srinivasula Reddy, Mudragada, Bezawada Gopala Krishna Reddy, and a host of intellectuals like doctors, businessmen, and young leaders joined the TDP which helped the NTR coming to power.
The same is lacking in JSP now, they pointed out. When Chiranjeevi launched the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), several senior leaders including ex-Union minister Shiva Shankar, Bhuma Nagireddy, Ummareddy Venkateswarlu, C Ramachandraiah, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Amanchi Krishna Mohan and Harirama Jogaiah joined the party which helped to secure over 74 lakh votes in the 2009 elections.
Analysts also point out that there is no clarity on Pawan Kalyan aligning with the TDP. Once he said that he would ensure that anti-YSRCP votes would not split and later he announced that he would ask people for a chance to be the CM. All these indicate the political immaturity and inexperience of Pawan Kalyan, political observers say.
