Hours after Jana Sena Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s press conference, Congress leaders launched a no-holds-barred attack on the former accusing him of disrespecting Telangana’s identity and demanded that he apologise before attempting political expansion in the State.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and MLA Anirudh Reddy accused Mr. Pawan of being a ‘paid artist’ who opposed the formation of Telangana and now sought to exploit the State’s political space. He questioned why Mr. Pawan chose to hold a meeting on Telangana Formation Day, calling it an insult to the sacrifices of martyrs. He added that while Andhra people were always welcome in Telangana, Mr. Pawan’s rhetoric amounted to arrogance and separatist provocation. The Transport Minister too serious exception to Mr. Pawan’s remark and declared: “Mr. Pawan Kalyan, Telangana is our jagir and that of four crore people - not your personal fiefdom.”

Congress MLA Anirudh Reddy joined the criticism, alleging that Mr. Pawan Kalyan’s politics were dictated by ‘packages’ and alliances. He claimed Mr. Pawan supported whichever party offered him more benefits, pointing to his ties with both Chandrababu Naidu and the BJP. He further alleged that Mr. Pawan’s recent remarks were aimed at impressing national leaders like Amit Shah and K. Chandrashekhar Rao.

They faulted his comments about balladeer late Gaddar, insisting that invoking the late activist without respect was unacceptable. “If you claim to have bought him a car, first apologise to his soul,” Mr. Prabhakar said, adding that Telangana’s Dalit communities would not tolerate such arrogance.

The Congress leaders also accused Mr. Pawan of spreading falsehoods about Andhra people being insulted during the Telangana movement. “We never abused Andhra residents during the struggle. It is Pawan who is lying,” Mr. Prabhakar asserted. He reminded that Telangana always welcomed people of Andhra origin and insisted that Hyderabad was not a restricted zone. They branded Mr. Pawan Kalyan a ‘political opportunist’, who was now attempting to destabilise Telangana.