New Delhi, September 29, 2021: On September 27, during the pre-release event of the movie ‘Republic’, Jana Sena Party chief and south star Pawan Kalyan targetted the Andhra Pradesh government over its attitude towards the Telugu film industry. Kalyan lashed out at the government and accused it of discriminating against actors based on political differences and creating problems for online ticket sales of movies.
Recently, the Andhra government created an online portal (APSRTC Pratham app) for moviegoers to book tickets, a move Kalyan described as “monitoring ticket sales” and “causing losses to movie halls”.
Kalyan’s remarks have created a furore, with many ministers and leaders from the ruling party reacting to his remarks. State ministers such as Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani), Botsa Satyanarayana, and Dr Anilkumar Yadav came down heavily on Kalyan for his comments. The latter even accused Kalyan of raking up the controversy only for political gains.
However, Kalyan remains undeterred by the salvos.
In a Telugu tweet, he wrote, “The YCP government’s policy terrorism is destroying all sectors and all communities. The time to face it is near.”
He followed it up with a tweet in Hindi which read, “This is the progress of Andhra Pradesh… Not one, not two, but 140 attacks were carried out against Hindu temples and deities in one year. All the criminals are safe.”
He attached an infographic in the second tweet, pointing out instances of what he termed as “policy terrorism”.
