Youths divided on PK's plan to ally with Telugu Desam in AP

VIJAYAWADA:  Youngsters are divided on Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalylan’s plan to forge an alliance with the Telugu Desam in the coming polls in AP.

While some say this would be beneficial to PK, others turn skeptical and point out that TD chief Chandrababu Naidu will dominate the show and attempt to win more seats for the TD than the JS.

A set of youths pursuing professional courses in the state however sound confident that PK would get elected as an MLA and step into the assembly this time. It was a washout for him in the 2019 polls, where only one JS nominee won the polls.

A majority of the respondents justify his plans to ally with TD for a strong fight against the ruling YSR Congress. As the Jana Sena is already in an alliance with the BJP, they want the two parties to join hands with the BJP and other friendly parties to unify the anti-YSRC votes.

Meanwhile, chief minister Jagan Reddy,  aiming to win all the 175 assembly seats, has set a target for the party leaders to reach out to the people and explain to them the welfare schemes and developmental works being initiated in the last four years. He hopes this would help the YSRC win their confidence.

A B.Tech third-year student from a private university near Tadepalli, Ambati Rakesh, said, “Pawan Kalyan is working hard for the sake of people. He does not have any personal agenda to make money as he is already earning a lot from the films.

We are expecting a minimum of 30 seats for the JS. If it gets more, and if Jana Sena gets more seats, PK would be in a position to bargain for the CM post.”

Youths pooh-poohed the criticism that though they are being attracted to PK’s public meetings and rallies, they mostly were having no voting right. “How so? A majority of us have crossed age 18 and are looking eagerly to exercise our franchise in the upcoming polls,” they said in one voice.

A B.Tech second-year student from a private engineering college near Rajahmundry, Mahesh Kumar, said, “I hail from Guntur and we all have decided to support PK. He is helping people, like farmers, when in trouble, by even offering his own money and also for his promise to bring more IT firms to AP. This means we would get jobs more easily in the future. We have made up our minds to support him.”

The youngsters claim that PK’s Varahi Vijaya Yatra in the Godavari and Visakhapatnam regions received a huge response from the people. “The people are looking up to him to know what good he would bring for the state if elected to power,” they said.

A software professional from Bhimavaram and working in Hyderabad, Arega Nagaraju, said, “We want PK to enter the assembly so that he will raise a series of issues that need urgent attention of the government. His presence in the assembly is more important than whether would become the next CM or not.”
An engineering final year student from a private engineering college at Surampalem, Vamsi Pragada, said, “As PK is fighting against the state government to safeguard the interests of the people and he assures us to work for the good of AP, we want to support him.”

However, some others slam PK for looking at issues beyond their scope as in the case of the village/ward volunteer system. They are against the Jana Sena going for an alliance with the TD, saying Chandrababu Naidu will dominate the entire political scene in such an eventuality.

A junior doctor from a private medical college at Tirupati, Dr. Jangam Jeshwanth, said, “We have high expectations of the Jana Sena. It may become the best political alternative for the existing two parties. But, it also appears that PK is not going in that direction. He is running the JS as a one-man army with no organizational structure from the top to the booth level.”