Inaugurated his party State office in Vijayawada on Saturday, Jana Sena party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan said he will be formally contesting 24 seats in Telangana elections. He also said that there is no need to go for early elections in Telangana. In addition to senior leaders, including M Gopala Krishna, M Gangadharam and M Krishna Rao, former Speaker of State Assembly Nadendla Manohar, who quit Congress and joined Jana Sena party on Friday, was also present at the inauguration.

Although the party president did not discuss an alliance with other parties, he said that the decision for contesting in Telangana will be announced soon. The JSP president also said he was planning to contest in 23 or 24 seats. “Some of the TRS corporators have expressed their readiness to join the JSP and contest on its behalf,” the actor-turned-politician said. 

Blaming the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) for advancing the elections, Pawan said that it is a “premature election” that is being imposed for political gains. He also pointed out that TRS should not have dissolved the Assembly without completing its full term.

Pawan on Saturday also urged all parties to come together and mount pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant the special category status to Andhra Pradesh. At the event, he demanded that the Andhra government convene an all-party meeting to discuss the SCS issue and to put pressure on the BJP-led NDA government to keep its promise.

Pawan Kalyan said, “The AP government lacked sincerity as CM Chandrababu Naidu wavered in his stand and spoke in different voices on the issue. That is why we did not attend the all-party meeting last time. This also caused confusion among the public. But if the government is committed, we will attend the meeting and work together in this matter.”