Film star and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan, making his maiden political foray into Telangana after a decade, said he was saddened by the level of corruption in Telangana as confessed by a contractor openly in a television interview recently and said people of the State deserved corruption free governance.
“I felt really bad when extent of commissions paid for irrigation projects was brazenly being talked. You do expect these things in Andhra Pradesh which is being ruled by rowdies. But I never expected this kind of corruption here. Everyone wanted to known why I did not criticise the government here earlier. I did not open my mouth because of my respect for Telangana movement,” he told a public meeting held at Warangal on Wednesday.
In his first election campaign meeting organised by his alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during this election, the film star said he had vowed to come before the people of the State when they needed him and here he was after 10 years. “You are aware of the situation in Andhra Pradesh, where there is a ‘goonda raj’. I may not have money, but have the courage which I took from the spirit of the separate State agitation here. We all dreamt of a Telangana where people of all sections are treated equally and there is social justice. You know better what is the present scenario here,” he said, refraining from naming Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
