Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan’s ‘stale laddu’ remark took a new turn with BJP spokesperson and TTD Trust Board member G. Bhanuprakash Reddy joining issue with him.
Mr. Pawan’s metaphorical reference to the Centre’s package as two ‘stale laddus’ was apparently taken seriously by Mr. Reddy, who compared it to the sacred ‘Tirumala Srivari laddu’.
He wondered where Mr. Pawan could get two laddus for a whopping cost of Rs.2.25 lakh crore, the actual value of the benefits showered on the State.
At a media conference held on Tuesday, he distributed portions of the Tirumala laddu to the reporters instead of the routine tea and biscuits.
Apology sought
Referring to the “unsavoury remarks” made by Mr. Pawan Kalyan against Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, he sought an open apology from the actor for his “angry outbursts” without having any basic idea of what the special package was about.
“In the absence of Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, who would have made a vociferous demand on behalf of the State?” he sought to know.
While dubbing himself a personal admirer of Mr. Pawan Kalyan and acknowledging Jana Sena’s support during the 2014 general elections, Mr. Reddy said the BJP had emerged a winner on its own and hence owed the victory only to its party cadre.
“The national party, having strength of 11 crore activists, did not depend on Jana Sena alone to come to power,” he said.
Meanwhile, TDP MLA M. Sugunamma appealed to the opposition parties not to politicise the package issue and instead strengthen the State’s hands in getting its due. TDP State vice-president G. Narasimha Yadav wondered how leaders of the Congress and the YSR Congress, who had extended their cooperation for bifurcation, and the Left parties, which had remained mute spectators, could project themselves as champions of the State.
