Pawan Kalyan to perform puja of his campaign vehicle at Telangana temple

Hyderabad: Actor-politician Pawan Kalyan will perform special puja for his campaign vehicle 'Varahi' at Sri Anjaneya Swamy temple in Telangana on January 24.

The Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader will perform vahana puja of the special campaign vehicle at the famous temple at Kondagattu in Jagtial district.

The same day, he will launch the darshan of 32 Narasimha Swamy khsetras. The darshan will begin from Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Kshetram at Dharmapuri town in Jagtial.

The actor had a narrow escape during the election campaign in 2009 in Karimnagar district when a high-tension wire fell on his vehicle. He firmly believes that he survived because of the blessing of Kondagattu Anjaneya Swamy and hence decided to launch the important programme from this temple.

Gearing up for the 2024 electoral battle in Andhra Pradesh, Pawan Kalyan has last month unveiled a specially designed vehicle named 'Varahi'. The campaign vehicle is equipped with high-security features. It has a public address system and CCTV cameras.

The vehicle has been designed in a garage in Hyderabad. "Varahi is ready for election battle," the Tollywood actor had tweeted.

The JSP leader inspected the vehicle, which resembles a military bus, during a trial run in Hyderabad. He had discussed various features of the vehicle with technical experts and suggested a few modifications.

The four-wheeler will be used by the JSP leader to campaign across Andhra Pradesh, where elections are due in April-May 2024.

The power star, as the actor is popularly known, had planned to launch the state-wide tour after Dasara but the same has been postponed and he is now likely to embark on a visit in next few weeks.

However, a row had erupted over the colour of the vehicle after an official of Andhra Pradesh transport department had stated that Pawan Kalyan is not permitted to drive the olive green vehicle.

The official said under the Motor Vehicle Act, olive green colour should not be used for any private vehicle except for army personnel.

Pawan Kalyan, who is an ally of the BJP, is working to cobble up a grand alliance against the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). He is keen to have alliance with the BJP and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to avoid a split of anti-incumbency votes.