Pawan Kalyan to campaign for BJP, TDP in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, April 23 (IANS) Leading Telugu film actor Pawan Kalyan Wednesday announced that he would campaign only for NDA candidates in Telangana and Seemandhra.

He gave the assurance when Telugu Desam Pary (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu called on him and requested him to campaign for the party.

Naidu met the actor a day after they both shared dais with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a massive public meeting here.

Pawan, who floated political party Jana Sena last month and declared support to Modi, told reporters that his party is not contesting polls this time to avoid division of anti-Congress and anti-TRS votes.

TDP, which returned to the NDA after 10 years, is contesting the Andhra Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP.

Pawan said though he respects Loksatta president Jayaprakash Narayan, who too have declared his support to Modi, he would campaign only for NDA candidates in the larger interest of the alliance.

The actor had earlier decided to campaign for Jayaprakash Narayan, who is contesting from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency in Hyderabad. Naidu was reportedly unhappy over this as TDP has fielded its candidate from the constituency.

Pawan, who is younger brother of superstar and Congress leader Chiranjeevi, said he would coordinate with the BJP and TDP on the campaigning in both the states.

The actor Tuesday shared dais with Modi at Nizamabad and later addressed the meeting in Hyderabad in the company of both the BJP leader and Chandrababu Naidu.

Naidu told reporters that they will have to work together to make Modi the prime minister.

"My thinking, Modi's thinking and Pawan Kalyan's thinking is same. We all want to do good for the people. There is a need for strong leadership and stable government at the centre," he said.

The former chief minister said there was a Modi wave sweeping across the country.

"Modi-TDP is the best combination. Pawan has also joined us and he also wants to do something for the society," he said.