Allu Arjun arrest: Andhra Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan supports Revanth Reddy, says law equal for everyone

In his first reaction to the Sandhya theatre stampede in a which a woman died, Pawan Kalyan said that someone should have visited victim's home on Allu Arjun's behalf.

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan said that Allu Arjun's episode was not handled properly and it had escalated, which would have been resolved easily.

He also said that law is equal to all. In his first reaction to the Sandhya theatre stampede in a which a woman (Revathi) died on December 4 and subsequent arrest of Allu Arjun, Pawan Kalyan, who is also a successful Tollywood actor, strongly supported Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday.

The BJP in Telangana has adopted an anti-Revanth stance, and its leaders have been consistently criticizing the Telangana chief minister for Arjun's arrest. Arjun is also related to Pawan Kalyan's elder brother, another Tollywood icon, Chiranjeevi.

"I don't think the police did it because Allu Arjun forgot Revanth Reddy's name. Revanth Reddy is a leader beyond all these things. After all, Revanth Reddy allowed benefit shows and increased ticket prices for the movie 'Pushpa.' So how can we fault Revanth Reddy? Revanth Reddy is a great leader who rose from the grassroots," Pawan Kalyan told reporters on Monday.

He opined that there was a lack of humanitarian perspective somewhere in Allu Arjun's episode. Pawan Kalyan also observed that everyone (Allu Arjun's team) should have gone to Revathi's house and offered solidarity.

He said that the failure to do so caused anger among the people. He stated that there's a possibility for people to criticize Revanth Reddy, but he responded in his capacity as chief minister. Pawan Kalyan mentioned that Revanth Reddy has known Ram Charan and Allu Arjun since childhood, and Arjun's father-in-law is also a Congress leader.

However, he added that sometimes decisions are based on circumstances. Pawan Kalyan recollected that he stopped going to movie theatres to watch movies long ago. He also mentioned that his elder brother, Chiranjeevi, used to visit theaters to watch movies while wearing masks, a practice he also adopted for a few films. But now he has stopped going to theatres. Pawan Kalyan added that he does not blame the police for such incidents because they prioritize security.

He expressed his opinion that Arjun's staff should have informed him about the situation before he sat down, or they should have escorted him out after explaining the incident. He emphasised that everyone is equal under the law. Pawan Kalyan expressed that someone should have visited the victim's home on Allu Arjun's behalf, which could have prevented the controversy. He was deeply affected by Revathi's death in this incident, Pawan Kalyan said. He felt that the issue escalated unnecessarily.

Pawan Kalyan also said that if an actor does not greet fans, people might perceive it as arrogance. He sympathised with Arjun, saying he must be feeling guilty about the incident. Finally, he stressed that cinema is a team effort, and everyone should be involved. He disagreed with singling out Allu Arjun as the sole culprit in this incident.

Incidentally Allu Arjun faced the wrath of Pawan Kalyan's fans during elections as the Pushpa actor campaigned for a YSRCP candidate. YSRCP is rival of Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena in Andhra politics.