Amidst the intensifying electoral battle in Andhra Pradesh, which has become a do-or-die situation for the Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena, key leaders of these two parties have made a surprising decision to leave their battlegrounds and campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in neighboring states.
Over the past two days, TDP general secretary and party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s son, Nara Lokesh, has been campaigning in Tamil Nadu on behalf of BJP candidate Annamalai for the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat.
According to TDP sources, after Tamil Nadu, Lokesh will fly to Bengaluru to campaign for BJP candidate Tejaswi Surya for the Bengaluru (City) Lok Sabha seat. The program schedule is being finalized.
Simultaneously, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, who is facing a tough battle in his home ground of Pithapuram in Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh, has allocated his campaigning dates to support the BJP in Karnataka.
Upon the request of Karnataka BJP president Vijayendra, the power star is expected to campaign in the Telugu-speaking areas of Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Bellary, and Raichur through road shows starting April 17.
Pawan Kalyan would commence his campaigning for BJP candidate Amareshwar Naik from Raichur with a roadshow at 11 am on that date, followed by a visit to Bellary. In the following two days, he plans to tour Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts, as per party sources.
This move is surprising for the leaders of both the TDP and Jana Sena, as they believe it would be more beneficial for Lokesh and Pawan to focus on their respective constituencies and keep the party cadre united.
Sources suggest that their absence from action could demoralize the party cadre.