DY CM Pawan Kalyan with CM N Chandrababu Naidu.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Hyderabad: Telugu leaders from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are actively campaigning in the Maharashtra elections. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with BJP leaders from Telangana, union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, have already completed a round of campaigning in Maharashtra for their respective parties to woo Telugu voters.
Additionally, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan is expected to campaign in support of the Mahayuti alliance this weekend.
Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will also be campaigning for Mahayuti candidates in Maharashtra on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday he will address two public meetings in Thane and Bhiwandi. On Sunday he will attend public meetings in Koliwada and Worli in Mumbai.
It’s worth noting that Jana Sena is an ally of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh. Pawan Kalyan's recent focus on 'Hindu Sanatani' principles has made him a sought-after charismatic leader among the Telugu community in Maharashtra.
This weekend Telangana CM Revanth Reddy will also be in Maharashtra. On Saturday, he will depart from Hyderabad in the morning and arrive at Nagpur by 10 am. From there, he will head to Chandrapur and meet local leaders to discuss campaign strategies. Later, he will attend election rallies and roadshows in Rajura, Digras, and Wardha constituencies, returning to Nagpur by night. On Sunday, he will travel to Nanded and campaign in Niyogaon, Bhokar, and Solapur constituencies.
Estimates suggest there are at least one crore Telugu people living in Maharashtra, with significant populations in around 20 assembly segments, particularly in the Mumbai region and border areas of Telangana. Telugu populations are significant in numbers in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, places like Worli, Borivali, Kamatipura, Ghatkopar, Colaba, Bandra, and Goregaon, and outside the Mumbai region in places like Solapur, Nanded, Jalna, Chandrapur, and Ahmednagar.
During his recent meeting in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had requested Pawan Kalyan to campaign for the Maha Yuti block, and he readily agreed and would campaign on November 16 and 17, a Jana Sena leader told DH.
Pawan Kalyan will campaign in support of NDA candidates in the Maharashtra Assembly elections on Saturday and Sunday in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. On Saturday he will campaign in Marathwada region's constituencies. He will attend a public meeting in Deglur constituency of Nanded district in the morning and later in Bhokar constituency. In the afternoon he will reach Latur and participate in a public meeting. In the evening, he will participate in a roadshow in Solapur city. On Sunday , he will campaign in the Vidarbha region. He will attend a public meeting in Ballarpur town of Chandrapur district in the morning. In the evening, he will participate in a roadshow in Pune Cantonment constituency and later in Kasba Peth constituency's election campaign meeting.
Telangana leaders spar over Cong guarantees in Maha
Interestingly, the Congress party's attempt to showcase the implementation of the 'Telangana Model of Guarantees' has ignited significant political heat among Telangana leaders of both the Congress and BJP.
The Congress party, which had designated Revanth Reddy as a 'Star Campaigner', participated in the poll campaign during the Maharashtra Assembly elections in Mumbai on Wednesday. He had taken part in a roadshow in support of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's son and former Minister Aditya Thackeray at Worli, which is one of the key assembly segments in Mumbai. Revanth Reddy offered puja at the Tirupati Balaji temple at Worli before starting the road show. He tried to explain to the electorate about the successful implementation of six guarantees promised by Congress in last year's Telangana assembly polls.
“The Chief Minister of Telangana came to Maharashtra and made false claims, saying that he fulfilled the promises in the given manifesto and spent crores on ads. I am here to speak the truth. Telangana’s money was used for advertisements in Maharashtra, but even in the advertisement they left out the mention of six guarantees. These false promises are deceiving the people here. The six guarantees promised to the people of Telangana have not been fulfilled, not even one. Out of the 420 promises made in the manifesto, not a single one was kept, because this is a “420 Congress government,” said union minister of state for home affairs, Bandi Sanjay, who campaigned in Nagpur a few days ago.
Sanjay also remarked that Telangana is under a "commission-based" governance model. He claimed that every project and contract receives a 15 per cent commission, leading to the exploitation of Telangana's resources. He asserted that Telangana's people have not received a single fully implemented promise to date. Despite this, Congress is attempting to deceive people in the Maharashtra elections by spending crores on advertisements, falsely claiming to have fulfilled all promises.
Opposition BRS working president, K T Rama Rao had alleged that Congress leaders have been pumping corrupt money from Telangana to fund the party's Maharashtra elections.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.