Shanta Murthy

Pawan Kalyan, the actor-turned-politician has suddenly come to a political awakening, and is making a pitch for Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, or so it appears. Well, he is not the only one on the political stage. The ruling TDP has also woken up to the need for SCS, after a series of U-turns by Chandrababu Naidu beginning with "SCS is no Sanjeevini to AP and Special Package is more beneficial” in the PAST to “gross injustice has been done to AP" NOW. It is worth recalling here that the TDP government had passed a resolution in the assembly commending the Centre for the assistance it had received.

It is Pawan Kalyan's timing which makes him suspect in the eyes of the people of the state. While the entire state has been witness to the relentless struggle being waged by Leader of Opposition in AP Assembly and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for the past four years demanding SCS to the state, both Pawan Kalyan and the TDP, sensing the mood of the people have plunged headlong into the struggle, each in his own theatrical manner. Remember Chandrababu’s antics at the Delhi Parliament recently and the sudden spurt of his interviews to media channels? Isn’t Chandrababu’s media management just an eyewash and act of betrayal to the people of the state? What can be discerned here is an attempt to hijack the movement for their selfish objectives or water it down. The question which arises most naturally is this—Is the actor and Jana Sena founder trying to sabotage the SCS struggle being fought valiantly by YS Jagan. Is Pawan Kalyan trying to dilute the intensity of the SCS movement?

How does one explain his Padayatra exactly on the day when YSRCP MPs in the Lok Sabha have just submitted their resignations to the Speaker, as announced earlier? Didn't Pawan Kalyan tell the media in February that he would gather support for a no-trust vote motion if YSRCP moves it? Pawan Kalyan also said that Delhi and not Amaravati, should be the centre of struggle.

At a time when YSRCP MPs have intensified the struggle for SCS in the national capital having submitted their resignations and are now all set to launch their indefinite hunger strike in Delhi, what does Pawan Kalyan do? Instead of supporting this struggle, he embarks on his own padayatra in Guntur. This is exactly why this question has been doing the rounds among analysts. Whose "actor" is Pawan anyway? On whose behalf is he batting now? We are all familiar with Chandrababu's many shifts on SCS, but why has Pawan Kalyan been so inconsistent? As someone who had urged YSRCP to move a no-confidence motion against the NDA government promising to mobilise support from other parties, why did he remain silent once it actually became a reality? Instead, why is he resorting to a diversionary strategy of dividing the people of the state and distracting them at this critical juncture? What is the hidden agenda which TDP and Pawan Kalyan share?