Pawan Kalyan’s Telangana-Konaseema remark: Komatireddy threatens to ban his movies

Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy warned that Pawan Kalyan’s films would not be screened in Telangana unless he apologised for claiming the State had cast an “evil eye” on Konaseema’s development. The Minister said such remarks hurt Telangana’s sentiments.

Hyderabad: Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy on Tuesday demanded that Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan apologise to the people of Telangana, warning that his films would not be permitted for screening in the State if he failed to do so.

The Minister’s comments came days after Pawan Kalyan alleged that Telangana had cast an evil eye on the development of Konaseema, a remark that drew widespread criticism across various sections.

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Taking strong exception to the actor-turned-politician’s statement, Venkat Reddy said that during the period of united Andhra Pradesh, revenue generated from Hyderabad was diverted for the development of Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati.

“It is not Telangana’s evil eye, in fact under Andhra leaders rule, our people had to drink fluoride water for 60 years. Our water, funds and jobs were taken over,” he said at Gandhi Bhavan.

He said it was unfortunate that even 11 years after Telangana’s formation, leaders continued to make such provocative comments, which had deeply hurt the people of the State.

“If Pawan Kalyan tenders apology, his movies will be allowed to screen for a couple of days in the Nizam area. If he doesn’t, none of his movies will be permitted to be screened here,” Venkat Reddy warned.

Earlier, Jadcherla MLA J Anirudh Reddy, who admitted he was a fan of Pawan Kalyan, also objected strongly to the comments made by the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and demanded that he withdraw them and apologise.