As the electioneering in Telangana is gradually reaching a feverish pitch, Jana Sena Party chief and power star Pawan Kalyan is still undecided as to whether his party should contest the elections or not.
On Saturday, Pawan told the media in Vijayawada that his party was contemplating contesting 23 or 24 assembly seats in Telangana.
“I thought I would concentrate on Telangana after the completion of my tour in Andhra. But the Telangana government suddenly dissolved the assembly and decided to go for early elections. So, I don’t have much time to pay attention to Telangana elections,” he said.
The Jana Sena Party chief said he would discuss the issue with his party colleagues shortly and take a decision on how many seats his party would contest in Telangana and how to go go about with the campaign.
However, there have been reports that Pawan Kalyan might not enter the fray in Telangana at all, but would extend support to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Even if he fields his party candidates in some constituencies, it would be just for nominal and only a friendly contest.
Pawan said he had fair understanding of Telangana and had following in several districts, as he had toured all areas during 2009 elections as the youth wing head of Praja Rajyam Party.
“During my tour, I identified and promoted many leaders, who are now working as TRS leaders," he said.
Apparently, TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had a talk with Pawan and sought his support to the ruling party in the coming elections. In return, the TRS would protect all commercial interests of Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad.
The TRS chief has already started making efforts to bring Jana Sena and YSR Congress party together to defeat the Telugu Desam Party in 2019 assembly elections.