A day after meeting megastar Chiranjeevi and seeking his wishes for his new responsibility, Andhra Pradesh state BJP chief Somu Veerraju on Friday met the former’s younger brother and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad.
The meeting was held in the Jana Sena Party office in Hyderabad. Though it was said to be just a courtesy call, Veerraju reportedly explained to Pawan Kalyan in detail what he was going to do in the coming days and what stand the party would take on various issues.
Both of them reportedly discussed about the latest developments in Andhra Pradesh and the style of functioning of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
Especially with regard to the three capitals issue, Pawan reportedly sought a clarity from the party in the wake of the Centre’s refusal to intervene in the matter.
Right from the beginning, Pawan has been opposing the three capitals formation, especially in the angle of injustice meted out to the farmers who had given 34,000 acres of land. He has been saying that the farmers would be put to tremendous trouble if there was a capital shift.
In fact, Pawan had opposed acquisition of such a huge extent of land by the TDP government in the past, but once the capital had been decided at Amaravati, he has been arguing in favour of the same and opposing the capital shift.
On the other hand, the BJP central leadership had been non-serious on Amaravati issue right from the beginning and only former state BJP president Kanna Lakshinarayana had been vehemently opposing the capital shift. By sacking him from the post and bringing in Veerraju, the BJP central leadership has sent a clear message that it was not interested in the capital controversy.
As if endorsing this view, Veerraju said soon after taking over as the BJP state president, that the state had the prerogative to locate its capital, but only said justice should be done to Amaravati farmers. Adding to it, the Centre also submitted an affidavit in the court saying it has nothing to do with the capital issue.
During the meeting with Pawan Kalyan, the new state BJP chief is learnt to have explained the BJP stand as well as the Centre’s stand.
He convinced Pawan that the BJP-Jana Sena combine would not gain anything by taking up the Amaravati cause; and instead, it would only help the Telugu Desam Party.
“So, let us confine ourselves to raising the genuine concerns of the farmers of Amaravati, instead of stalling the capital shift,” Veerraju reportedly told the power star.