Janasena Party and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will contest together in the next elections, actor-politician Pawan Kalyan on Thursday. Andhra Pradesh is scheduled to go for polls in April-May next year, along with the Lok Sabha elections.
He made this announcement outside the Rajamahendravaram central prison after meeting TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was arrested for his alleged role in Rs 371 crore skill development corporation scam.
Kalyan, who is the chief of Janasena, which happens to be the NDA partner in the southern state, said he had been dillydallying all this while as to whether the two parties would contest the upcoming polls together, but clarified his stand in the wake of Naidu’s arrest.
“Andhra Pradesh can’t afford YSRCP. I have made the decision today. Janasena and TDP will go together in the next elections,” Kalyan told reporters, accompanied by Naidu’s son and party general secretary Nara Lokesh and Hindupur MLA and Naidu’s brother-in-law Nandamuri Balakrishna.
The former CM was arrested by the state CID from Nandyal on September 9, in an early morning operation, in connection with the AP State Skill Development Corporation scam during his government’s tenure between 2014 and 2019. On Sunday evening, an ACB court in Vijayawada had sent Naidu to 14-day judicial custody. He was shifted to the Rajahmundry Central Jail, 200 km from Vijayawada.
Condemning the former CM’s arrest, Kalyan said he would not just leave by condemning the arrest and declared his stand, and dubbed his meeting with Naidu in jail a crucial development for the southern state.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court Wednesday posted to September 19 the petition filed by Chandrababu Naidu seeking to quash the case against him in the alleged multi-crore scam case.
The high court directed the CID to file a counter and posted the matter and stayed its petition for custody of Naidu to September 18. Another petition by Naidu seeking anticipatory bail in the Amaravati inner ring road alleged irregularities has also been posted to September 18, reports The Indian Express.