Jana Sena Party political affairs committee chairman and former Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar and former minister Konathala Ramakrishna are among the five candidates announced by the party for Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections on Saturday.
Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan announced the first list of candidates at a joint news conference with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The TDP has left 24 out of 175 Assembly seats and three out of 25 Lok Sabha seats for its ally.
Pawan Kalyan announced candidates for five seats. The first list does not have the name of the actor politician.
Nadendla Manohar, who was the last Assembly speaker in united Andhra Pradesh, will contest from Tenali.
Nadendla Manohar, son of former chief minister Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, quit Congress to join Jana Sena in 2018.
A two-time MLA from Tenali, Nadendla Manohar contested unsuccessfully from the same constituency on Jana Sena ticket in 2019.
Konathala Ramakrishna, who was minister in united Andhra Pradesh, will be Jana Sena candidate from Anakapalli. The former MP had been keeping away from active politics since 2014 when he quit YSR Congress Party. He recently joined Jana Sena
The other candidates are Lokam Madhavi (Nellimarla), Battula Balaramakrishna (Rajanagaram) and Pantham Nanaji (Kakinada Rural)
The remaining 19 names for the Assembly election and candidates for threee Lok Sabha seats will be announced later.
The Jana Sena had contested the 2019 elections in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties. The alliance, however, came a cropper. Jana Sena won just one seat in the 175-member Assembly. Pawan Kalyan himself suffered defeat in both the seats he contested.