Pawan Kalyan remarks on YSR draw sharp reactions; KVP challenges allegations

The controversy over Pawan Kalyan’s remarks against former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy has escalated, with senior Congress leader KVP Ramachandra Rao challenging him to substantiate his claims.

Hyderabad: Two days after his controversial remarks on Telangana and the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan continues to draw sharp reactions.

Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao dismissed Pawan Kalyan’s remarks on Rajasekhara Reddy and offered to donate Rs 10 crore to charity if he proves his allegations.

---

In a four-page open letter, Ramachandra Rao rejected Pawan Kalyan’s allegation that the then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had directed the police to register false cases against the actor-politician during his tenure.

He asserted that there was no evidence of any politically motivated cases against the Jana Sena leader and claimed that the only cases on record were related to Pawan Kalyan’s personal family matters filed by his own family members.

Referring to Pawan Kalyan’s claim that a senior police officer had informed him about such instructions, the former MP said that if the officer underwent a lie detector test and confirmed that Rajasekhara Reddy indeed ordered false cases against him, he and YSR’s admirers would donate Rs 10 crore to the Telangana Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or to any charitable organisation chosen by Pawan Kalyan.

He urged the Jana Sena chief to accept the challenge if he stood by his allegations and said there was no justification for blaming Rajasekhara Reddy or the Congress without understanding the reasons behind the denial of permission for the Telangana Formation Day public meeting. He also expressed disappointment that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had not distanced himself from Pawan Kalyan’s remarks on Telangana.