“I entered politics for three reasons — political transparency, political accountability and social justice. All the three are lacking in today’s politics and there is huge vacuum,” said Jana Sena Party (JSP) founder and actor Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday.
He was addressing party workers here and pointed out that he did not belong to any political party. “I have come into politics to serve the people and not for power. And that is how I am going to build up my party in phases and will not allow it to die like Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) that was founded by my elder brother and actor Chiranjeevi,” he said.
‘Chiru’s mistake’
Coming out openly on why the PRP failed, he said, “The party was founded with good intentions but my brother allowed unwanted intruders into the party and he was soon surrounded by companions who did more harm than good.”
Mr. Pawan Kalyan said, “I remember each and every person who was responsible for the destruction of PRP and we will teach a lesson to each one of them at the appropriate time.”
In an oblique comment, he said he would talk about Parakala Prabhakar at the appropriate time.
“I am building up a party with a strong cadre base picked up from the lower and middle-class segment of society and posts and portfolios will be given as per their strength and capabilities.”
On why he supported the BJP-TDP combine, he said, “I saw a leader in Mr. Narendra Modi but I cannot be taken for granted.” Mr. Pawan Kalyan said he had supported the BJP-TDP combine in 2014 under the impression that they would be responsive to the needs of the people. “The State was divided in the most undemocratic circumstances by the UPA government in 2014. I decided to support the TDP-BJP combine keeping in mind the welfare of the public,” he said. He said the late Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy had introduced some good schemes, but there were allegations of massive corruption during his regime. “That is why I did not support Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy but I have no personal animosity against him,” he clarified. He said he did not approve of the politics of inheritance.
Referring to the Polavaram project, he said, “There is some talk now of corruption in the project. In fact, corruption has become all-pervasive.”
He said Andhra contractors, facing corruption charges, were executing major projects in Telangana. “There is really no change there [Telangana] also. Only the rulers have changed and the same old corrupt practices are continuing,” he said.
Referring to the Special Category Status, he said it might have been achieved if all sections had fought together for it.
