The decision of Jana Sena Party president and power star Pawan Kalyan to forge an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party headed by former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu appears to have not gone down well with many of Jana Sena Party leaders and cadre.
Though Pawan Kalyan has been hinting at a possible alliance with the TDP for quite some time, they are not able to digest the fact that he would make such a sudden announcement without even discussing it within the party.
What hurt them more was the manner in which Pawan has surrendered before the TDP and acknowledged Naidu as the next chief minister, restricting himself to playing a second fiddle to the TDP. They were hoping that Pawan would pitch himself as the chief ministerial candidate.
Now, many of the leaders of Jana Sena have started exploring other options for their political career, as they realised that they have no future in the party.
On Monday, senior Jana Sena Party leader Meda Gurudutta Prasad from East Godavari district, along with 100 followers, resigned from the party.
Prasad was the Jana Sena Party in-charge of Rajanagaram constituency and was expecting the party ticket in the coming elections.
He had initially worked for Praja Rajyam Party floated by megastar Chiranjeevi and later joined Jana Sena Party at the time of its formation in 2014.
He said it was unfortunate that Pawan Kalyan, who always spoke about self-respect and dignity, did not expect the same from the party leaders.
“I have realised that there is no place for self-respect and honour in the party, as Pawan Kalyan has taken unilateral decision,” he said.
Prasad said despite working for the party since its inception and associating with Pawan Kalyan for the last 16 years, he had not been consulted before joining hands with the TDP.
“I have sought an appointment with Pawan Kalyan long ago, but even after two months, I could not speak to him. I feel insulted,” he said.
Many other leaders are expected to call it quits to the party. Already, several seniors like V V Lakshminarayana, Thota Chandrasekhar, V Rammohan Rao, Addepalli Sridhar, Raju Raviteja and others have left.
“Don’t be surprised, if any leaders worth mentioning are left in the Jana Sena by the time of elections,” Prasad said.