Minister dares Pawan Kalyan for public debate on BC empowerment

VIJAYAWADA: Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh has challenged superstar Pawan Kalyan to openly state what he did for ensuring social justice to the backward communities in Andhra Pradesh and what he intends to do in this respect now.

“While ten years have passed after the formation of the Jana Sena Party by Pawan, he never worked for the BCs but now began chanting a “BC mantra” and coming up with a BC Declaration to deceive these communities and pose himself as their saviour. His aim is to win their votes in the next assembly elections,” Ramesh said.

Addressing the media here on Sunday, the minister recalled that the alliance of Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan and Somu Veerraju released a big manifesto during the 2014 elections with a set of 125 poll promises to the BCs. “But nothing was implemented. Hence, Pawan has no right to talk about BC welfare now. Rather, he should express an apology to the BCs for his party having deceived them,” Ramesh said.

“If Pawan Kalyan really has any love and affection for the BCs, he should accept our challenge and discuss as to what he did for the BCs so far, at his address of the Jana Sena formation day rally in Machilipatnam on March 14,” the minister said.

The minister said BCs were denied social justice and development for the past 75 years of Independence. Chief minister Jagan Reddy, with a broad vision, has begun implementing schemes for the benefit of the BCs in the past four years. Seeing this, other states are also trying to follow Jagan's path. In such a scenario, Pawan’s promise about his party working for political empowerment of the BCs in AP sounds hollow.”

Terming Pawan as a slave of TD chief Chandrababu, Ramesh said in a lighter vein that, for Pawan Kalyan, “BCs means Babu Class” and hence he started dancing to the tunes of Naidu.

Responding to the JS party’s plan for Pawan to make a ‘BC declaration’ at its formation day meeting, the minister said Pawan should rather include this as a declaration in the JS manifesto. The JS also must give clarity as to how many of the 175 assembly seats it would contest in the polls, he said.

“The BCs, SCs, STs, Minorities have jointly formed the YSRC government, but Pawan wants to divide us. Out of the 25 ministers, 17 are from the BCs, SCs, STs and minorities, forming 70 per cent,” the minister added.