Pawan Kalyan begins political Yatra from Telangana

Actor turned politician and chief of Janasena Party (JSP) K Pawan Kalyan's maiden political Yatra in Telangana evoked mixed reactions in the state.

Pawan Kalyan, whose recent movie Agnathavasi didn't fare well at the box office, undertook the three-day tour to the combined district of Karimnagar on Monday from famous Kondagattu Anjaneya Swamy temple.

"In 2009 election campaign when I was on the top of the campaign vehicle a high tension wire brushed my head and I believe that the Kondagattu deity saved me certain death. Hence I began my political yatra as JSP president from this district," Pawan Kalyan said addressing media in Karimnagar.

He said that Telangana always has a special place in his heart and would first try to identify issues and then decide on an action plan for the state.

Answering a question, Pawan said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is smart and hardworking and doing a good job given the challenges faced by the state.

He said that his party will field candidates in both the Telugu states after carefully analyzing their strengths and weaknesses.

He said that from 27 January he will be touring Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh and inaugurate JSP's first office in the district.

He denied allegations that certain political parties are trying to split votes by using Janasena as a proxy.

While a large number of Pawan's fans followed him from his party office here to Karimnagar, opposition parties in Telangana were not too kind towards the actor's sojourn to the northern Telangana district.

"How can one forget his opposition to the  formation of Telangana and his pro-AP stance? We suspect that Pawan is playing to the tunes of KCR," former Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar said.

However ruling TRS party remained silent about the  tour of Pawan, a native of coastal Andhra Pradesh, in the Telangana heartland.