Actor-politician and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan on Thursday night responded to the resignation of former CBI Joint Director V V Lakshminarayana.
Lakshminarayana had probed many high-profile cases, including the disproportionate assets case against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a JSP candidate from Visakhapatnam.
In his resignation letter, Lakshminarayana wrote that he was quitting the party due to Pawan Kalyan's 'inconsistency' on his commitment to politics over his film career.
In his response, Pawan said, "We respect VV Lakshminarayana's feelings and accept his resignation."
In what seemed to be a reference to both Jagan and Lakshminarayana, he further added, "I don't have any cement factories, power projects, mines or dairy factories. I am not a well paid government employee either. All I know is cinema. There are many families that depend on me. For me, for my family, for the party, it is a must for me to make films."
"It would have been nice if Lakshminarayana had known all this in his resignation. For me personally, the respect towards Laxminarayana will always be the same. Best wishes to him," Pawan Kalyan added.
Lakshminarayana took voluntary retirement from the Indian Police Service (IPS) in April 2018, after which he announced his intention to enter politics. Although the BJP and the TDP had attempted to court him, he joined hands with Pawan Kalyan in March 2019.
The JSP had contested the Andhra Pradesh elections last year, but had faced a humiliating defeat. Only one MLA from their party won the polls while Pawan Kalyan himself, who had contested from two seats – Bhimavaram and Gajuwaka – lost both elections.
Recently, it was announced that Pawan Kalyan was shooting his next film, a Telugu remake of the Hindi film Pink, and is rumoured to have signed another film.
The JSP chief had also joined hands with the BJP recently.
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