Andhra Pradesh Election Results 2024: As Pawan Kalyan Heads to Maiden Win, A Look at His Political Journey

Actor and Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan is heading to his maiden election win, with strong leads in the Pithapuram Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh. Contesting against Kalyan is Vanga Geetha Viswanatham of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).

Pawan Kalyan has this time aligned with the BJP and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP for the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. As part of a seat-sharing deal among NDA partners, TDP was allocated 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies while BJP contested six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats. Under the deal, Jana Sena contested two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats.

Pawan Kalyan Leads in Pithapuram: Who is He?

Pawan Kalyan, 55, is a renowned Telugu actor and politician in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The actor, who is the brother of Telugu stars Chiranjeevi and Nagendra Babu, is known for his martial arts and starred in several films, including Gokulamlo Seeta (1997), Suswagatham (1998), Thammudu (1999), Kushi (2001), Balu (2005), Jalsa (2008), Gabbar Singh (2012), Attarintiki Daredi (2013), Gopala Gopala (2015), and Vakeel Saab (2021), to name a few.

He ventured into politics in 2008, spearheading the youth wing of Praja Rajyam Party, called Yuvarajyam. He was named the president of the party started by his brother Chiranjeevi. Kalyan campaigned hard for the party but several health hiccups and otherwise led the party to pump the brakes on Kalyan’s political career. He rose again in 2014 and this time, he started a new political party called the Jana Sena Party (JSP).

Rising from the Defeat

In 2019, Pawan Kalyan contested for the first time and was met with massive disappointment. The JSP chief contested from Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram constituencies but lost in both. Kalyan lost to YSRCP leader T Nagireddy in the Gajuwaka seat by over 16,000 votes. In Bhimavaram, he lost to Grandhi Srinivas of YSRCP by over 8,000 votes.

Pawan Kalyan’s Political Promises:

On April 30, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) released an election manifesto with N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), featuring several promises. Both parties promised several facilities for women. These include “free bus travel and monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,500 to women aged 18-59 years.”

They promised three free gas cylinders every year to each household and an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month, among other things in their manifesto. They have also promised to give Rs 15,000 to every school-going student via their ‘Thalliki Vandhanam’ scheme. Given that Pithapuram is an agricultural constituency, the two parties have also come up with several beneficial plans for the farmers.

A sum of Rs 20,000 a year will be given to farmers for financial assistance, nine hours of uninterrupted power supply for farmers, and solar pump sets at free of cost will be provided if the alliance comes to power.

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