The visit of power star and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan to Chennai on Wednesday has made one wonder what he had to do with Tamil Nadu politics at a time when he is supposed to step up his campaign in Andhra Pradesh for grabbing power in the state in 2019 assembly elections.
But after listening to what Pawan had said at the press conference in Chennai, one gets the impression that there was more to his visit to the Tamil Nadu capital than what meets the eye.
No, he is not entering into Tamil Nadu politics, but he is on a mission to bring all the smaller parties of South India to build a front which will act a pressure group on the north.
In a way, Pawan wants to play Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu in south India.
While Naidu has been trying to unite all the opposition parties to form a national level anti-BJP front, Pawan wants to confine himself to south to form a southern regional parties’ front.
Pawan is likely to meet leaders like Kamal Haasan who floated his own regional outfit in Tamil Nadu, who have been opposing the hegemony of northern parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Right from the beginning, Pawan has been taking about the north-south divide and highlighting the injustice meted out to South by the Centre.
At the press conference, Pawan called for the unity among the regional parties in the South which would be very crucial in the 2019 elections.
He tried to impress upon the Tamil Nadu people saying he was inspired by the Jallikattu movement.
Warning the Centre against ignoring the South, the Jana Sena chief said he would initiate a movement to fight for the interests of South India.
He also underlined the need for having a second capital for the country in South India.