Why can’t cop’s son become CM?: Pawan Kalyan

​Rajamahendravaram: Questioning the tradition of a chief minister always passing on the baton to his son, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Monday said that this practice has to be broken at some point.

“Why can’t a police constable’s son become the chief minister of the state?” he asked, implying himself, at a largely attended public meeting at Dowleswaram near here on Monday after leading a “march” on the worn out Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage with thousands of his fans rending the air with slogans in his support and capturing the progress of the march on their mobile phones. 

On the score, the Jana Sena supremo became very emotional and cornered the political parties which have been operating in the state for long: "What is this tradition? One says he will become the chief minister since his grandfather was one and his father was now one. Similarly, another one says he would become the chief minister because his father was one," he said referring to IT Minister Nara Lokesh and YSRC Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. 

He wanted to know if they could aspire to become the chief minister, why shouldn’t the great-grandson of a munsab, grandson of postman and son of a police constable become the chief minister, referring to himself. "For me, it is not an ornamental post but one with responsibility," he said, pointing out: “If the people bless me, the Jana Sena would win all the seats in the election and would come to power.” 

The Jana Sena chief, apparently enthused with the large turnout, spoke for about one-and-a- half hour, where he took potshots at the Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy calling one as being ready to misuse his position and the other as one raring to use his faction politics against Jana Sena. 

“We will fight back if you resort to any such misadventure,” he warned. Lashing out at Naidu for his “selfish nature,” he said he had supported the TDP in 2014 not because he could not face the elections but because he thought Naidu with his vast experience would help the state stand on its feet after bifurcation. "But I have realised that Naidu wants the Jana Sena to bear his palanquin all the time and it should not grow into a major party," Pawan Kalyan said.

He said the people had faced humiliation for mistakes they had not committed. "For months together, we faced insults. Now you talk about self-respect. How come you only have self-respect. Do you think we don't have that? We cannot remain your minions. After a stage, we would revolt," he said.

The Jana Sena chief said that he would have a resolution passed in the Assembly for scrapping the contributory pension scheme (CPS) of the employees and send it to the Centre. "I will be with the employees all the time," he said and referring to the living standards of the small-time merchants and unorganised sector, he said and pointed out that his party would take appropriate policy decisions to help them after coming to power. 

The matinee idol, referring to the delay in holding elections to Panchayat Raj institutions, dared Naidu to conduct panchayat elections. "If you do, we will win all panchayats," he said, adding: “Jana Sena would not tolerate any more delay. Villages are the backbone of the country and the actual governance starts from villages."

He demanded that Naidu convene an all-party meeting to discuss Special Category Status (SCS) and other issues in AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014. "Let us all go to Delhi and bring pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am ready to fight with the BJP for protection of interests of the state," he said.