A day after an unsuccessful attempt at silent protest at Visakhapatnam planned by youth against denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh, film star and Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan warned Narendra Modi and N. Chandrababu Naidu of going against their parties that he had supported in 2014 elections.
He gave the warning at a media conference on Friday in view of the the Andhra Pradesh Government scuttling the silent protest. He went on to say that he had supported Mr. Modi and Mr. Naidu in 2014 believing that their experience would help the Capital-less State.
After three years, he said, he had realised that the BJP-led NDA government’s attitude was different which was evident from the indifference towards handling issues at Pune-based national film institute, Rohit Vemula’s suicide episode and demonetisation.
The A.P. Government invited the wrath of people now by stalling the silent protest, he said. The Government made a mountain out of a mole hill. “People cannot be silent spectators to vacillating stands of governments. Governments cannot withstand people’s ire,” he observed.
“When I supported TDP-BJP combine, no one asked me whether I had political experience to campaign for the parties in elections,” he said. The BJP leaders even used him for campaign in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. His fans worked for the parties holding the their flags.
“Now, these leaders question me whether I knew politics. Was this not opportunistic politics?”, he remarked and added that he would not hesitate to settle scores with anyone when it came to anti-people policies.
Angry with BJP
People were angry with the BJP for indirectly ruling Tamil Nadu, something which was exposed in Jallikattu issue, he said. There was no TDP rule in A.P. as the party appeared more like a mini-BJP, he alleged.
The cine star reminded that a small incident in northern States attracted national attention but the Central Government and national media continued to ignore even big issues down South. Telangana movement was noticed only after hundreds of people sacrificed their lives.
“People in southern States are in no way inferior to north Indians.
They deserve the same kind of importance,” he opined.
He sought action against Union Minister Sujana Chowdary and Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao if Mr. Chandrababu Naidu was true to his words that the Singapore President was his inspiration.
