Will Pawan’s Mature Response Diffuses Telangana Controversy?

The war of words between Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and Telangana leaders over the past few days has intensified further with BRS working president KTR reacting on the ongoing controversy for the first time on Wednesday morning.

While welcoming Pawan Kalyan’s stand to contest in Telangana elections, KTR strongly asserted that no one will be allowed to poke into the internal affairs of the state. Many expected that Pawan Kalyan would give a scathing counter to KTR and make the issue more intense. But, that didn’t happen.

In reply, Pawan Kalyan once again reiterated his stance and clarified about his statements uttered during Tuesday’s high-octane press meet. He said, “Telangana belongs to the sons of its soil, and no one denies that. However, I only objected to the narrative of some politicians who tried to project that others shouldn’t even be allowed to enter into Telangana. Leaders like Gaddar never said that anyone should be barred from entering”.

Talking about KTR, Pawan said, ” KTR is like a brother to me, and I haven’t heard exactly what he spoke about me. I’m sure he won’t spoke against me. I’m sure he won’t speak wrong. No Andhra leader is going to Telangana to contest elections. What is the objection if the sons of Telangana’s soil themselves want to contest there? This issue has blown out of proportion like a storm in a teacup. I cannot say if there is a conspiracy behind this, but my sole intention is to put an end to hatred.”

Pawan Kalyan’s matured response has now diffused the controversy from growing into a bigger regional issue. He has de-escalated the tensions through his measured statements. His reply appears to be aimed at not making the unnecessary issue to create any further rift between the people of Telugu states.

Even though KTR countered him in a smooth and diplomatic manner, Pawan chose not to counter him back in his usual style which was evident during his press meet on Tuesday. Though Pawan’s soft response is intentional or unintentional, the toned down reply has effectively cooled down the controversy from exploding further.

Moreover, he chose to selectively counter the Congress leaders who are trying to stoke up regional sentiments by twisting his statements. Even though he strongly countered a few Congress leaders and the Congress party during his speech, he intentionally refrained from uttering a single counter-word against Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.