Hyderabad: In a move that has caught opponents by surprise, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan has decided to contest from the Gajuwaka assembly seat of Visakhapatnam in the upcoming Andhra Assembly elections.

Earlier, the actor-turned-politician had announced that he would fight from Anantapuram.

Sources say that Pawan has been under pressure from his party cadre and leaders to contest from Gajuwaka, which was once a stronghold of the Praja Rajyam Party. Another factor that could have swung the decision in favour of Gajuwaka is that the actor-turned-politician is quite popular with the youth in the area.

The Jana Sena chief declared the party candidates just a day after the EC’s announcement of election dates.

Pawan has named three candidates to the Legislative Assembly so far, Pithani Balakrishna from Mummidivaram constituency in East Godavari district, former Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar from Tenali and Thota Chandrasekhar from Guntur.

The party manifesto is in its final stages. The manifesto announcement will be made by party chief on March 14.

In the 2014 elections, 2014 Pawan had campaigned for the TDP-BJP alliance. He later withdrew his support from the BJP and the TDP. The Jana Sena party has already been allotted its poll symbol, a glass tumbler, by the Election Commission.