Janasena has finished the tenth year of its existence. The other day, Pawan Kalyan mentioned that the ten years are over even before he realized it. That may be a casual comment but also underlines the situation the party is in. Even though Janasena is ten years old, Pawan Kalyan did not feel like ten years because he never gave so much time for the party.
Ten years probably can make a political party an adult in politics but Janasena is still an infant mentally and was struck there without any growth or development.
It was a sensation when Pawan Kalyan announced a party way back in 2014. He stunned everyone by announcing not contesting the first election and by extending support to TDP and BJP.
That was understandable because Pawan Kalyan had too little time to prepare. But the efforts after that were disappointing as well. The party has basic problems like no leader beyond Pawan Kalyan, no incharges in most constituencies, no organizational structure at the grassroots, no consistent stand on alliances, etc.
In these ten years, Janasena had allied with TDP, BJP, BSP, Communists, et al. That is like with almost every party except YSR Congress. After criticizing TDP heavily in 2019, he opened the door once again for alliance now.
The biggest problem is with Pawan Kalyan himself. Initially, Pawan Kalyan announced quitting films and immediately went back on the word after the elections. He is signing films as if there is no tomorrow and is dedicating only 3-4 days per month to the party.
Pawan Kalyan himself lost two places in the 2019 elections, a big blot in his political career.
Even when Pawan Kalyan comes out, we have his fans shouting slogans of ‘CM Powerstar’ and celebrating like as a film release. These slogans are keeping his film image fresh in the people defeating the purpose.
Janasena’s electoral tactics are also baffling. The party did not contest for a single by-election after the 2019 elections defeat. Elections in AP are just one year to go and the party skipped the MLC elections as well. Pawan Kalyan is indicating that he does not want to expose the real strength of the party by contesting these elections.
Pawan Kalyan also sounds like he is in politics only to defeat Jagan. At times, he asks for people to defeat Jagan without marketing the benefits of electing Janasena. The positivity of self-marketing is missing in Janasena’s campaign.
With elections nearing, Pawan Kalyan took a sudden shift from caste-less politics and is trying to impress the Kapu community all of sudden and wants to get himself recognized as a Kapu leader. This strategy can only backfire. We have never seen Chandrababu attend a Kamma caste meeting or Jagan attend a Reddy caste meeting even though they enjoy the support of these castes.
2024 elections are going to be do or die for Janasena. If Pawan Kalyan does not go to assembly this time, Janasena will face the danger of going extinct or irrelevant.
