The political war of words between the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) of Andra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief K Pawan Kalyan continued on Tuesday, with the actor-turned-politician telling the ruling party’s leaders that he would beat them with his footwear if they made disparaging remarks about him. Speaking at the JSP headquarters at Mangalagiri near Guntur on Tuesday afternoon, Pawan Kalyan waved his black sandal and said, “If you call me package star again, I will beat you with this.” The popular actor who is referred to as “Power Star” has been mockingly referred to by YSCRP leaders as “package star”, insinuating that he was in cahoots with the BJP and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Following Kalyan’s latest outburst, the ruling party labelled the actor a “political broker” and said that his “filmy dialogues” were suitable for movies but not useful in politics. The political wrangling began on Sunday after the state administration thwarted his “Jana Vani programme” in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. It was organised for people to express their grievances over various issues. The police also sent a notice to Kalyan to stop him from conducting any public meetings or rallies and placed prohibitory orders. He was confined to his hotel room on Sunday and through the day on Monday. The JSP chief returned to his home in Mangalagiri on Monday evening. After being confined to his hotel room and denied permission to address the event, an angry Kalyan said he would kick out the YSRCP government in the 2024 polls and install a “people’s government”. The state government appeared to have been rattled as it deployed at least half a dozen ministers to counter the actor’s allegations that the state government had cracked down because it was scared of him. Tourism Minister RK Roja said Kalyan’s “psycho fans” fuel his politics. At the public meeting in Mangalagiri on Tuesday, as Kalyan raised his sandal, thousands of his fans, supporters and party workers cheered him on. “YSRCP leaders will face very dire consequences if they behave in public like they are doing now,” Kalyan said. He challenged YSRCP leaders and ministers to a face-to-face debate. “Let me know if you have the guts to take me on,’’ he said before reciting a few lines from his films. “You bring iron rods or hockey sticks … I am always ready for a fight. I will thrash you all and skin you bare. A war has been declared.” Responding to some YSRCP leaders insinuating that there were other political forces behind him and that they were sponsoring his political ambitions, Kalyan said that in the last eight years he had acted in six movies and earned Rs 100-120 crore, of which Rs 33.37 crore was paid as income tax. “I have spent my own money for the party,’’ he said, adding that he took money out of fixed deposits he had started for his children to give Rs 5 crore to his party. In addition, donations worth Rs 12 crore had been given to the AP CM Relief Fund and NGOs, and Rs 30 lakh was paid to the Ram Mandir Trust in Ayodhya, he added. Kalyan’s brother and actor K Nagendra Babu, who is close to their eldest brother K Chiranjeevi, made an appearance at the public gathering. Nagendra Babu who helped Chiranjeevi launch the Praja Rajyam Party, which is now defunct, had stayed away from Kalyan for several years but now both Chiranjeevi and Nagendra Babu are warming up to their youngest brother. Meanwhile, laying into the JSP chief, YSRCP leader and former state minister Perni Venkatramaiah told Kalyan that the actor that his filmy dialogues were not useful in politics. Venkatramaiah accused Kalyan of working at the behest of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to create a law-and-order problem in Andhra Pradesh. Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said Naidu’s visit to a hotel in Vijayawada to meet Pawan Kalyan indicated that the TDP was backing the Jana Sena Party. “Pawan Kalyan is like a political broker between parties opposed to YSRCP. Pawan Kalyan may be a hero in his films but he is a zero in politics and he has found that several times and he will find it in future also. Chandrababu Naidu is grooming Pawan Kalyan to lead a JSP-TDP coalition,’’ he alleged.
