Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Saturday felicitated the nine leaders of the party from Visakhapatnam who were arrested during his visit to the city on October 15.

Pawan Kalyan invited all the nine leaders along with their family members to the party headquarters at Mangalagiri.

He congratulated them for standing tall and strong against the YSR Congress leadership and the state government.

He honoured the nine leaders – Kona Tata Rao, Sundarapu Vijay Kumar, Panchakarla Sandeep, P V S N Raju, Peethala Murthy Yadav, Kolluru Rupa, Rayapureddy Krishna, Srinivasa Patnaik and Chittibilli Srinu.

The leaders were arrested and sent to jail in Visakhapatnam on the charges of taking out an unauthorised rally from airport and attack on the minister’s vehicles. The police also attempted to arrest Pawan Kalyan but was restrained for reasons not known.

It was later, Pawan Kalyan left Visakhapatnam and reached Vijayawada, where he addressed the media and later the party workers. At the party meeting, Pawan Kalyan went aggressive on the ruling YSR Congress leaders and hurled abuses at them.

BJP State chief Somu Veerraju met Pawan Kalyan at the Jana Sena office and expressed solidarity with him.

Interestingly, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu met Pawan Kalyan in a hotel and expressed his support to the fight against the YSR Congress leaders. The two leaders addressed a joint press conference emphasising the need for a united fight against the YSR Congress leadership in the state.

The two leaders have also underlined the need for unity among the opposition parties in the state for the 2024 general election. They have also given an indication that the two parties would fight the 2024 electoral battle.