Tollywood actor and Janasena party founder Pawan Kalyan alleged on Saturday that the Andhra Pradesh government did not respond to his appeal of providing immediate relief to the farmers battered by Cyclone Nivar. "We gave 48 hours' time to the government. People are losing confidence. At such a time, the government should immediately provide relief to the farmers," said Kalyan.
Reiterating his demand, the Tollywood actor said that the government should declare a compensation of Rs 35,000, out of which Rs 10,000 should be given immediately to every farmer.
"There is no reason for the government to say that there is no money with it as Nellore ministers and YSRCP ministers have been making statements about the sound financial condition of the state," claimed Kalyan, who entered politics first when his brother Chiranjeevi started the Prajarajyam party more than a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the Janasena party has decided to launch a hunger strike on Monday across the state, demanding immediate relief to the farmers.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed the officials to complete crop loss enumeration by December 15 to enable the government to dole out relief by the month end. Kalyan also said that it failed to ban liquor despite promising to do so. He named a few local liquor brands such as Supreme, President's Medal and others and said that the state government is earning thousands of crores of rupees from liquor sales.
On Saturday, Kalyan met with his party leaders from Nellore district. He visited a string of Nivar affected places in Nellore district and also interacted with the people enroute.
The Jana Sena Party is currently in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh.