Jana Sena Party leader Pothina Mahesh resigns, blames Pawan Kalyan for playing selfish politics

VIJAYAWADA: Jana Sena Party (JSP) senior leader Pothina Venkata Mahesh has resigned from the party and all the positions he was holding following the allocation of Vijayawada west seat to NDA candidate and former Union Minister Sujana Chowdhury.

Mahesh contested from Vijayawada west in 2019 and lost the election. He was hoping that Pawan Kalyan would nominate him as the JSP candidate but was deeply hurt that the seat went to the BJP under the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance. Mahesh protested the move and also met the JSP chief urging him to change his mind and nominate him in a segment where Kapus formed a formidable electoral group.

“I have quit the Jana Sena Party. Today we all have realised the real Pawan Kalyan. He either doesn't know what he is doing or he is a selfish politician. He is just an actor, never concentrated on building the party from grassroots,” Mahesh said speaking to media here on Monday.

Mahesh said that Pawan Kalyan was defeated in the 2019 elections and he would be defeated very badly this time because the voters understood that he would not achieve anything with just 21 seats. “How can Pawan Kalyana agree to allocate Vijayawada west to Sujana Chowdhury who abused his mother? Kapus sacrificed a lot in supporting Pawan Kalyan and he did this to us,” Mahesh said.

Blaming the actor-turned-politician for decimating Kapus in the coastal region, Mahesh demanded an explanation from Pawan Kalyan on JSP sacrificing seats when TDP was the one to adjust seats to the BJP. “Why do we have to sacrifice our seats? Is that for money that the TDP and BJP gave? I have information on this,” he pointed out.

Mahesh was the latest in the list of leaders that left JSP in recent times, Pithani Balakrishna in Konaseema and Raja Babu in Amalapuram had quit the party.