The political significance of the meeting is not lost on Chandrababu Naidu-watchers as he appeared to ensure that Pawan Kalyan did not get the feeling that he was being sidelined.
Published Dec 04, 2024 | 11:26 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 04, 2024 | 12:31 PM
Pawan Kalyan meets N Chandrababu Naidu. (X)
After Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s recent high-octane antic at Kakinada Port, where he tried to live up to his filmi image of an angry young man fighting the establishment, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was closeted with him where he appeared to have shared his concern over the rampant smuggling of PDS rice out of the state.
The two leaders spent considerable time discussing what Pawan Kalyan had found in his raid of the port and the Stella L Ship on the roads in the high seas and contemplated the measures to sanitise the port and bring the guilty to the book.
The political significance of the meeting is not lost on Chandrababu Naidu-watchers as he appeared to ensure that Pawan Kalyan did not get the feeling that he was being sidelined.
He gave a patient hearing to whatever Pawan Kalyan wanted to say not only on the smuggling of rice out of Kakinada port but also on other issues, including the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-elections for three berths. There has been speculation that Pawan Kalyan wanted one seat given to his party.
As Pawan Kalyan has the penchant to go off the tangent, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister keeps close tabs on him. The film actor’s actions are always unpredictable and once he chooses to take one line, he goes about it with full energy. While espousing the cause of Sanatana dharma after the allegations of the use of ghee with animal fat in the making of Tirumala laddu when YSRCP was in power, the film actor took the state by storm.
The matinee idol also went into a fit of rage over the law and order taking a hit in the state and half-warned and half-advised Home Minister V Anita that she should pull her socks up and go after those who are responsible for the crimes that are being committed not only against women but also abusing those in the government on social media platforms.
After he flew off the handle, Chandrababu Naidu gave an audience to him and listened to his grievance. As the YSRCP had indulged in social-media abuse of his family, Pawan Kalyan had an axe to grind against the previous dispensation.
As things were not moving at the speed he thought they would after coming to power, he openly said the pace with which the Home Department was working was not enough and that if it continued that way, he may have to step in and take over Home Portfolio.
After he met with Chandrababu Naidu, the state government cracked the whip on the social media activists of the YSRCP, filing cases against scores of them and even arresting a few. The government even registered a case against controversial film director Ram Gopal Varma who has since sought and obtained protection against any drastic action against him through the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
When it came to the smuggling rice from Kakinada port, Pawan Kalyan appeared keen on fixing YSRCP MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy with whom he had old scores to settle. Reddy used to abuse the Jana Sena chief and his family when the YSRCP was in power.
Dwarampudi’s degree of abuse always rankled him and now that NDA is in power, he is feeling impatient that no action could so far be taken against him.
Pawan Kalyan seems to have always taken an aggressive stand each time subtle signals emanated that Chandrababu Naidu might be sidelining him. But Naidu is also fully aware that he can ill-afford to ruffle his feelings.
The two-hour-long meeting between the two leaders mainly centred around smuggling rice out of the state and taking action against Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy.
The Jana Sena chief is understood to have taken to the chief minister’s notice that during the last three years, 48,537 tonnes of rice meant for PDS had been shipped out and the rice mafia should be dismantled.
The deputy chief minister also had apprised Naidu that 41.12 percent of the share of the Kakinada Port had been sold to Aurobindo. He also said that the company had taken over Kakinada SEZ from GMR group. He sought an inquiry into these agreements as well.
The chief minister consented to take measures to ensure that the PDS rice does not go into the hands of rice smugglers. To begin with, it had been decided to promote awareness among the beneficiaries that if they do not draw PDS rice, their cards would not get cancelled, a fear that is encouraging them to sell it away to merchants who in turn are diverting it into the hands of smugglers.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
