Kalyan seeks special status to AP; targets PM, Jaitley

Tirupati, Aug 27 (PTI) Telugu film star and Jana SenaParty founder Pawan Kalyan today warned the Narendra Modigovernment not to test the "patience and tolerance" of peopleof Andhra Pradesh further and demanded that the promisedspecial category state status be granted forthwith. "We are tired and vexed. Please don’t test our patienceand cause intolerance. Special status is our right and it hasto be granted at any cost," Kalyan asserted and vowed to fightfor it till the end. He accused the Centre of "diverting" the special statusissue in the name of cow protection. "You are thinking about cow protection. I have 15 cows (inmy backyard). By taking up cow protection, you are onlydiverting other important issues," Kalyan said. "Hum ladenge. Jeete tak ladenge. (We will fight till wewin)", the actor said in an emotion-filled tone at his firstpublic meeting after a gap of over two years. He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Unionministers Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu for allegedlyseeking to "betray" the people of Seemandhra on one pretext orthe other and denying special status to the state. "Modiji, you said (during electioneering in 2014) that theCongress killed the mother (AP) and gave birth to a new baby(Telangana). Now, you are trying to cremate the mother,"Kalyan said. "I have respect for you but not so much that I willmortgage the self-pride of Seemandhra people," he said. Attacking Jaitley and Naidu over their conflicting claimson special status, he said "Jaitley says several financialgrants were released to AP in the last two years whileVenkaiah Naidu says special status is not a panacea. We aretired of all this". "You are committing a mistake, Venkaiah Naidu garu. My agemay not be equal to your political experience, but rememberyou are first a Telugu. You should speak in public interestfirst rather than your party interest," he said. He demanded that Telugu Desam Party come out of the NDAgovernment at the Centre if it could not fight and achievespecial status as promised by the BJP. The actor-politican wondered what was preventing it fromfighting for the rightful demand of special status to thestate. (More) PTI DBV NRBSMJ