Telangana elections: Why Jagan and Pawan Kalyan have decided to give it a miss

Hyderabad, Oct 18: The Telangana assembly elections will witness a direct fight between the TRS and the Congress which is in alliance with the TDP. However there are two other key players, who are likely to give this election a miss.

The YSR Congress Party, led by Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena will stay away from this election. Both parties are opposed to the Congress and the TDP. Both would however call on the voters to reject the Grand Alliance comprising the Congress-TDP and CPI.

Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided not to throw his hat into the ring as he wants to focus on Andhra Pradesh entirely. After losing the AP polls in 2014, he has been on a major re-building exercise. Moreover his support base in Telangana is restricted to the voters of AP origin.

Further, in case the YSR Congress fails to win a seat in the Telangana assembly elections 2018, it would take a beating on the image of the party in AP. Hence it has been decided that the YSR Congress would stay in the background and instead urge the voters to defeat the Congress and TDP.

While many within the Jana Sena Party feel that they should contest at least 20 seats in Telangana, no decision has been taken by Kalyan as yet. Like the YSR Congress Party, the Jana Sena too is focusing heavily in AP. The party feels that if it performs poorly in Telangana, it could have a bearing in AP.

In recent times, Pawan Kalyan has pressed KCR on a few occasions. He had praised him for his government welfare schemes. This are indications that he may stay away from the polling process in Telangana and instead urge the voter to defeat the Congress-TDP combine.