A narrative is building fast that Pawan Kalyan is trying to expand Jana Sena's political space in Andhra Pradesh at the expense of the TDP.
Published Dec 02, 2024 | 5:12 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 02, 2024 | 5:12 PM
Pawan Kalyan.
With Jana Sena holding a fair say regarding the affairs of the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh, party chief Pawan Kalyan’s recent actions suggest that he is trying to grow independent of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The actor-turned-politician’s moves after taking oath as the deputy chief minister of the state point to this possibility. The Jana Sena represents 21 seats in the state Assembly and is an important constituent of the TDP-led NDA in the state.
He has been complaining that the state government officials are not heeding his directives.
This oft-repeated statement is making the political circles in the state buzzing with several questions; whether his complaint stems from his inability to keep the officials on a tight leash or if the TDP was trying to prevent Jana Sena from encroaching into its political space by instructing officials not to cooperate with him.
Even though part of the government, Pawan Kalyan appears to be still considering himself as one playing the role of the Opposition.
Take for instance his recent histrionics while “raiding” a foreign ship Stella-L, ready to sail out to Africa, at the Kakinada port and seizing rice meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS).
The optics of his inspection of the stocks in the port and the ship were like scenes from an action movie. Later, he said the Kakinada port was the rendezvous for all the rice smugglers.
While portraying a high-octane performance, he seemed to have forgotten that he has been in power for more than five months as deputy chief minister and if anyone had to address the problem, it was him and the NDA government.
In fact, the civil supplies portfolio is handled by Pawan Kalyan’s comrade in arms Nadendla Manohar. Adding more to it, the civil supplies corporation chairman is Jana Sena leader Thota Sudheer.
And yet, the matinee idol chose to stress the point that the illegal transport of rice was taking place from the port even though the civil supplies department was the system meant to stop the practice.
The state government, mainly the civil supplies department, can check the illegal export of rice through the Kakinada port at different stages. The route through which the ration rice finds its way into the ships is all too familiar.
It moves from the dealer to the beneficiary, small merchants, wholesale merchants, rice millers, and finally the exporter. And yet, Pawan Kalyan chose to ignore it and said rice meant for the poor was exported to countries in Africa.
If no action follows, as is most likely, an impression will gain ground that Pawan Kalyan only makes lofty professions and that he cannot or is not allowed to initiate action.
Recently, he flew off the handle at Home Minister V Anita. He had said law and order was out of control and that if he took over the home portfolio, the situation would be very different. And now he says that Kakinada Port has become a hub for smuggling.
As soon as Manohar took over as the Civil Supplies Minister, he seized 65,000 tonnes of PDS rice. Though it has been more than four and a half months now, there is no word on the follow-up action.
Pawan Kalyan also was silent on the 65,000 tonnes of rice seized by Manoharin in the past but came down heavily on those smuggling PDS rice out of Kakinada port.
It is said that one has to obtain permission from the director general of shipping to make inspections on a ship. Traditionally, the permission is given only to law enforcement officials as no politician is known to have resorted to acting out the capers that he did while making inspections at the port and the ship.
He did not have clearance from the Shipping Ministry to raid the ship and said that the officials had tried hard to prevent him from going anywhere near the ship due to inclement weather.
Pawan Kalyan, in an unconventional move, ordered the officials to seize the ship and also the barge that was taking rice to the ship. It is an open question whether Pawan Kalyan had the power to order the seizure of a foreign vessel.
Seems like Pawan Kalyan is making every move as decided by the BJP national leadership. Before the Assembly elections, he had hinted at a promise by the BJP that it would give him a road map on how he should move forward.
Sources said that even now, he looks to the BJP before making any political move.
Pawan Kalyan, after meeting the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in Delhi, came straight to Kakinada the other day and created a scene.
It is a debatable point whether he did it at the instance of the BJP leadership. Since both events happened in quick succession, it is surmised that the saffron party may have asked him to create yet another scene and build an image for himself.
The BJP may be having its own calculations for encouraging Pawan Kalyan to rise in political firmament on his own.
Apart from this, Pawan Kalyan had recently told media that the timing of the indictment against Adani Group and naming Andhra Pradesh officials, including former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, in the bribery allegations was very odd.
While Jana Sena workers were keen on Pawan Kalyan’s reaction to the indictment since supporting Adani would be much like endorsing Jagan Mohan Reddy, he diverted the attention by creating the Kakinada port issue with his antics.
Meanwhile, a narrative is building fast that Pawan Kalyan is trying to expand Jana Sena’s political space in Andhra Pradesh at the expense of the TDP, unobtrusively.
With the support of the BJP leadership, Pawan Kalyan seems to be in a hurry to rise on his own even though it has been only five months of the total five-year rule of the NDA in Andhra Pradesh.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
