Pawan Kalyan advises both Telugu states to show restraint

Popular Telugu actor and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan on Monday advised governments of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to exercise restraint and focus on development of their respective states.

Addressing a news conference here, he said the leaders from both the Telugu states should act and speak responsibly.

Voicing concern over the acrimony created by the recent exchange of words between the chief ministers of the two states, he warned that if unchecked this could lead to a fight between the two states.

This is the first time that the actor, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, has reacted to the recent developments in the wake of cash-for-vote scam.

He said since the case was in the court, he would not comment. However, he said telephone tapping was a serious issue and there was need for a probe.

The Andhra Pradesh government has accused Telangana of tapping phones of chief minister and other ministers in Hyderabad.

Stating that division of a state leads to problems, he suggested that the central government constitute a committee to sort out the issues between the two Telugu states.

The younger son of actor-turned-politician K. Chiranjeevi, he opposed implementation of Section 8 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, which empowers governor to supervise law and order in Hyderabad, the joint capital of the two states.

He said the section 8 should come into force only if there is a law and order problem. He urged Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to take the responsibility to ensure that such a situation is not created.

Pawan wanted Andhra leaders to give up their claim on Hyderabad and instead focus building on the new state capital.

Stating that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) does not represent all people of Andhra, eh took exception to some Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders using the term Andhra while attacking TDP.

He said it was unfortunate that nothing has been done in the last one year to compensate for Andhra Pradesh's loss due to bifurcation and questioned the silence of MPs from Andhra Pradesh on special status to the state, which was promised at the time of bifurcation.

He alleged that all MPs from the state, including union ministers Ashok Gajapati Raju and Sujana Chowdhary, are not speaking anything now.