Kalyan lobbies with BJP

Popular Tollywood film star Pawan Kalyan, who launched a political party “Jana Sena” last week, appears to be warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Party for an alliance in the coming simultaneous elections to assembly and Lok Sabha.

Pawan Kalyan, the younger brother of super star and Union Minister K Chiranjeevi, has sought an appointment with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He is expected to meet senior BJP leaders in New Delhi next week including party president Rajnath Singh, L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj.

Sources in the actor’s camp said that he would then fly to Ahmedabad to meet Modi. Making a high-profile entry into politics, he gave a Congress Hatao, Desh Bachao call that bears close resemblance to Modi’s poll plank. The political entry of 43-year-old Pawan Kalyan, who has acted in 29 films, pits him against his elder brother who is now a key player in the Congress and chairman of the party’s campaign committee in Seemandhra region. According to sources, the actor is keen to explore a tie-up with BJP. The saffron party is already on the verge of firming up an alliance with the main opposition Telugu Desam Party headed by N Chandrababu Naidu. There is a possibility of the three parties working together in the coming polls.

While launching the new party, the actor held Congress solely responsible for the haphazard and arbitrary division of the state, but spared the BJP and TDP. He also indicated that he was ready to join hands with any party except Congress. Both BJP and TDP reportedly sent feelers to Pawan Kalyan, known as “Power Star” to his fans.

Pawan Kalyan is the third popular film star to float a party in the state, after late N T Rama Rao and Chiranjeevi. The actor is said to be nursing a strained relationship with Chiranjeevi ever since the latter merged his Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) with the Congress.

• India