War of words escalates between Pawan Kalyan and Telangana Congress leaders

Telangana Congress leaders, led by Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and Government Whip Vemula Veeresham, lashed out at JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, calling him a "paid artist" and demanding an apology for his past criticism of Telangana’s formation.

Hyderabad: The war of words between Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan and Telangana Congress leaders continued on Tuesday, with Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar describing the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister as a “paid artist”.

“The BJP leaders are not giving Pawan Kalyan a good script. He is a paid artist. If I had money, I could have hired him for a role and made him speak accordingly,” the Minister alleged.

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While maintaining that Pawan Kalyan was free to move around Telangana, Ponnam Prabhakar criticised him for holding a party meeting on Telangana Formation Day.

He said Pawan Kalyan had consistently criticised the formation of Telangana and had even observed an 11-day fast. The Minister alleged that the JSP chief was now using politically twisted language to cover up his past comments on Telangana and its formation.

Responding to Pawan Kalyan’s remarks on Telangana being a fiefdom, Ponnam Prabhakar said, “Yes, Telangana is the fiefdom of its four crore people. It is definitely not his father’s fiefdom.”

The Minister said that in a democracy and a federal system, anyone was free to establish a political party and contest elections. Taking a swipe at the JSP chief, he said Pawan Kalyan was free to set up a party unit in Gujarat as well.

Government Whip Vemula Veeresham demanded that the JSP chief put an end to what he termed a political drama in Telangana.

“Before stepping into Telangana, he should tender an unconditional apology to the people for questioning the State’s formation,” he said.

Veeresham alleged that Pawan Kalyan had earlier remarked that the evil eye cast by Telangana people had harmed the Konaseema region and therefore had no moral right to speak about Telangana.