Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan predicted a rout for YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in the 2024 elections, on the basis of feedback he claimed to have obtained from analysts and intellectuals.
The YSRCP’s strength in the Assembly will fall from 151 to between 45 and 67 seats, he said in a meeting of the party’s legal cell on Sunday.
“On the other hand, the JSP’s popularity is growing. We have been advised to explore ways to maximize that advantage”, he stated.
Mr. Kalyan expressed his resolve that irrespective of the election outcome, he will be there for the long haul, and insisted that politics cannot be the monopoly of anyone, be it YSRCP or any other party.
Referring to the filing of a special leave petition by the State government in the Supreme Court against the High Court‘s judgement on three Capitals, Mr. Kalyan said it was unfortunate that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy chose to challenge the verdict more than six months after it was delivered, despite stiff opposition from various quarters.
The CM apparently forgot his statement in the Assembly that Andhra Pradesh (AP) required a greenfield capital spread in not less than 30,000 acres, he said.
It was JSP that suggested to the then TDP government to have a capital city that was much smaller than what was conceived and is environment - friendly, Mr. Kalyan said.
“Majoritarianism is not always right and acceptable as renowned jurist Nani Palkhivala had famously observed. If Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy thinks he can do anything by leveraging on his party’s sheer strength in the Legislature, he is mistaken. If he cannot stick to the ‘pledged words’ spoken by him in the Assembly, what authority does he have to make laws in the first place”, Mr. Kalyan questioned.
He sought to know how and why Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had a simmering dispute with his sister Sharmila on their family assets, gave away properties belonging to Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad to the Telangana government on a platter.
The JSP chief said he would have confronted the government with full force on issues concerning the people if his party had even 10 MLAs.
Nevertheless, he vowed not to run away from problems and to continue to ‘strive for a change’, while asserting that ‘JSP flag will flutter in the Assembly sooner than later’.
