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Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan slammed the Telangana government on June 15, saying his Jana Sena Party (JSP) was not granted permission to conduct an event in Hyderabad commemorating Telangana Formation Day and pay tributes to the martyrs of the Telangana movement.
“We speak about Gen Z a lot today. But think of Sagar or Sampath or any of the other martyrs who died for Telangana statehood. They were young people. The Congress government didn’t even allow me to pay tributes to them,” Pawan said.
He was speaking at the Sena Prasthanam ... Jateeya Samagratha Kosam’ (the party’s journey towards national integration), a three-day party event in New Delhi. The event was held to celebrate the Jana Sena’s ideological vision, national outreach and future political strategy.
He also asked, “If I want to pay my tributes to the soldiers who are honoured at India Gate in Delhi, does it matter whether I am from Kashmir or Punjab? Is this not my land or my country?”
Pawan’s comments are part of his broader critique against Congress and the BRS over the past weeks. He has been criticising the Congress for promoting regional sentiments in Telangana despite being a national party.
He also criticised Telangana leaders for referring to him as an ‘Andhrodu’ (a man hailing from Andhra), which he argues was an attempt to instigate ‘extreme regional sentiments’.
While announcing on June 2 that the JSP would contest polls in Telangana going forward, Pawan likened “prantiyavadam” (regionalism) to “ugravadam” (terrorism).