Vijayawada: After extensive talks stretching up to the level of the top leaderships of both parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jana Sena on Thursday formally announced their alliance, seeking to emerge as the "third alternative" in Andhra Pradesh.
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and state BJP president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana announced the alliance at a press conference in Vijayawada near here and said it would work to end "casteist, dynastic and corrupt" regimes. Both parties have also decided to set up a joint coordination committee.
Both leaders asserted that the alliance will clinch power in the state in 2024.
"From the upcoming elections to the local bodies, our alliance will fight together till the 2024 general elections for the betterment of the state. Our alliance is intended to protect the state," they said.
Narayana said that both parties discussed the ruling YSR Congress government's policies and the opposition Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) corruption when it was in power.
Alleging that the YSRC government completely failed the people in a very short time, the alliance leaders promised to fight against its policies.
The state BJP chief said the Sena agreed to ally with his party "unconditionally" in the interest of Andhra Pradesh and its people. BJP state in charge Sunil Deodhar stressed there is no question of any realignment with the TDP.
Kalyan had held talks with BJP national working president JP Nadda in New Delhi days ago.
The reunion of the two parties, which comes after a separation of three years due to what they termed “communication gap”, may alter the political scenario in the state, where the local body elections are round the corner.
Pointing to the "communication gap" between his party and the BJP, which led to a fallout three years ago, Kalyan said, "We held a series of discussions over the past few months and bridged that gap. Thus, we are back in alliance."
The Telugu film star claimed that the people of AP were yearning for a third alternative, vexed with the "dynastic, despotic and corrupt" politics of both TDP and YSRC.
"The BJP and the Jana Sena will be the third alternative that people are looking for. We will emerge as a formidable force by 2024," Kalyan noted.
"We have over four years to strength ourselves in the state and we will certainly clinch power in 2024," he asserted.
As soon as the Sena was founded in March 2014, Kalyan supported the BJP-TDP combine in the elections in AP and Telangana. The Sena remained out of contest in the two states.
Two years down the line, it fell out with the BJP and the TDP for various reasons and allied with BSP and the Left parties for the 2019 elections.
Sena bit the dust in the elections to both Lok Sabha and Assembly in the state last year, managing to win just one seat in the 175-member Assembly.
(With agency inputs)
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