“Power Star” and Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan has announced a phased agitation to press for the special status of Andhra Pradesh, starting with a public rally at the coastal city of Kakinada on 9 September. He addressed a public meeting in temple town Tirupati on Saturday evening.
Filmstar Pawan Kalyan, who has a mass following with the Telugu as well as Kannada and Tamil audience, had launched Jana Sena in early 2014. The party was in a dormant stage all these months, but at the Tirupati rally, he declared that he would be plunging into active politics. Pawan Kalyan, who campaigned for the BJP and TDP in the 2014 elections, shared dais in several public meetings with the then BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu. “I beg to differ with both of them now, though I have all the respect for them even now. My apologies to Modiji, if I hurt you,” said Pawan Kalyan.
Pawan Kalyan, 46, is the younger brother of mega star and former Union minister K. Chiranjeevi. Pawan was made the chief of the youth wing of Chiranjeevi’s now wound up “Praja Rajyam Party” in 2009. He parted ways with his brother as Chiranjeevi merged his party with the Congress. In his hour long speech punctuated with barbs at the previous UPA government and the present NDA government, Pawan highlighted his upcoming agitation for attaining special status for AP.