Even as the BJP and TDP leaders are extending gratitude to Jana Sena Chief and actor Pawan Kalyan for his active role in campaign during the general elections, the Congress leader and his elder brother Chiranjeevi is reluctant to give him any credit.
Talking to media persons at Indira Bhavan, he stated that there was no Pawan effect on the Congress which suffered a serious drubbing in the elections. When scribes repeatedly asked whether Pawan rhetoric and continuous attack against the Congress has any effect and led to poll debacle, Chiranjeevi refused to accept it.
On the other hand, BJP leader and Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and designated Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and TD Chief N Chandrababu Naidu rang up Pawan and extended thanks for his poll campaign. On the other, the APCC which is recounting on its failure, which was expected as per former minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, but Chiranjeevi opines otherwise. It is being viewed that giving credit to his younger brother will lead to another problem in the party that is at the receiving end, Chiranjeevi deliberately refrained from giving a pat to Pawan. However he maintained that NDA got Pawan’s help during the elections.
‘We will strive hard to strengthen the party from rural to urban level’, he said. There are many reasons for the debacle including bifurcation and prevailing situation in the country. We failed to campaign during the elections, while TDP and BJP combine made it to public in a big way’, a reluctant Chiranjeevi admitted. ‘Had we campaigned to a great extent the Congress would have performed better’, he added.(NSS)
