Hyderabad: Several political, social, educational and trade union leaders from Telangana joined the Jana Sena Party (JSP) here on Friday, July 10, in the presence of party president Pawan Kalyan, in what appeared to be a fresh push by the Andhra Pradesh-based outfit to expand its footprint in the neighbouring state.
The leaders, who joined the party at a programme held in Hyderabad, said they were inspired by Pawan Kalyan’s leadership and the party’s ideology. Pawan Kalyan welcomed the new entrants by draping the party scarf around them.
Among those who joined the party was Prof D Ravinder from Uppal, former Vice-Chancellor of Telangana University and a former physics professor at Osmania University with over three decades of teaching experience.
Misala Srinivas Rao from Nizamabad, a former state organising secretary of Praja Rajyam and Yuva Rajyam who has also served as district chairman of the Telangana Praja Sanghala Joint Action Committee (JAC), was among the entrants, as was Devarakonda Ram Mohan Rao from Maheshwaram, a former Hyderabad district secretary of Telugu Nadu Trade Union Council (TNTUC) who has also headed the Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital Employees’ Union.
Maidamsetty Ravi Varma, an advocate at the Telangana High Court from Serilingampally who has contested local body elections, also joined the party, along with B Ravinder Goud from Devarakadra, who has previously served as district vice-president, district secretary and spokesperson in various political parties, besides heading the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) unit of the BC Welfare Association.
Other prominent entrants included Batthini Satyanarayana Goud from Qutbullapur, state general secretary of the Telangana Public Health and Medical Employees Union and founding president of the Telangana Health, Medical and Family Welfare Employees Association; Are Mahender from Choppadandi, a former BC JAC president and a founder of the Telangana Munnuru Kapu Youth Welfare Association, and Meda Ramakrishna from Mahabubnagar, who said he wanted to strengthen the party at the grassroots level in the Mahabubnagar parliamentary constituency.
Bandaru Raj Kumar, a graduate MLC candidate from Karimnagar and state vice-president of Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), and Dr Edla Sai Krishnapriya, a medical doctor from Karimnagar, were also among those who joined the party on the occasion.
The induction programme was attended by JSP vice-president Bongunuru Mahender Reddy, general secretary Talluri Ram, Telangana state in-charge Nemuri Shankar Goud, publicity secretary Sagar RK Naidu and other party leaders, including Radharam Rajalingam, Mummareddy Prem Kumar, Macha Sudhakar, Gadala Srinivas, Miriyala Ramakrishna, Prajeeth Goud and Tanish.
The event, organised by the Jana Sena Party’s Telangana state office, comes as the party, which is part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition in Andhra Pradesh along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), continues its efforts to build an organisational base in Telangana, where it has so far had a limited presence compared to its bigger regional rivals.
The induction of leaders drawn from academia, trade unions, the legal fraternity and community welfare associations across districts such as Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar and Hyderabad suggests the party is looking to widen its social base in the state ahead of future electoral contests, even as it remains to be seen how this translates into organisational strength on the ground in a state where the Congress, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the BJP already have entrenched cadres.
