Ali today said in Tirupathi that he is ready to contest against Pawan Kalyan in the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections should YS Jaganmohan Reddy ask him to.

The statement is surprising, considering that Ali was thick friends with Power Star from the mid-1990s to as recently as 2016 or so. Before the 2019 elections, some rift took place between them.

Even so, today, Ali described the Jana Sena Party chief as his friend. "Cinema and politics are different," Ali added.

Ali is a die-hard YCP loyalist. Today, he predicted that the ruling party will not only retain power in 2024 but will also win all 175 seats.

Recently, Ali's daughter got married. Whereas many celebs and political leaders made it to the wedding, Pawan Kalyan was absent. "He promised to attend the wedding. But he couldn't make it because he failed to catch the flight in time," Ali said later, putting to rest unnecessary controversy. Ali personally went to meet the 'Hari Hara Veera Mallu' actor to extend an invite.