The anxiety in both Hyderabad and here that the Narendra Modi government announce the special economic package for Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday itself had much to do with the impending public rally on Friday of actor-turned-politician Pavan Kalyan in the state's East Godavari district.
Kalyan, 46, younger brother of actor and former Union minister K Chiranjeevi, who is looking at the 2019 Lok Sabha and the simultaneous state assembly election, has announced several rallies, starting Friday, to highlight the "failure" of the governments at the Centre and the state to deliver on the promise to accord Andhra a 'special category state' status.
It took hours of back and forth between state Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Information & Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu for the special package for the southern state to be announced on Wednesday. The press conference was originally scheduled for late afternoon but could eventually take place only at 11 pm.
Kalyan had floated a political party, the Jana Sena, in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election. After a meeting with Narendra Modi, the actor had then decided to support the Bharatiya Janata Party-Telugu Desam Party alliance and also opted not to contest. However, in recent months Kalyan has upped the ante on the issue of special category status. At a rally in end-August, he had jibed at the PM and Chandrababu for not delivering on an alleged promise in this regard.
Kalyan hails from the Kapu caste, about 27 per cent of Andhra's population. It is a determining factor in at least 34 of the 175 assembly seats in the state, mostly in East and West Godavari districts, and can also influence the results in another 30 seats in Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Chittoor.
The BJP believes the Modi government has delivered a good economic package for the state and it is now for Chandrababu to market it. According to sources, the Andhra leader assured as much to senior ministers in the government.
In the Andhra legislative assembly on Thursday, opposition parties led by YSR Congress head Jaganmohan Reddy termed the announced package a betrayal. Kalyan, meanwhile, has threatened a hunger strike. "Pavan Kalyan must answer why when nothing was given, he didn't sit on a hunger strike. He is clearly anti-development," said the central BJP's functionary in charge of the state, Siddharth Nath Singh.
It is likely that in the days to come, the BJP leadership reached out to Kalyan. In the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, the Andhra results were a particular blow for the Vajpayee government. The spectacular Congress performance in what was then an undivided Astate had helped it emerge the single largest party In the Lok Sabha and form a coalition government here.
PACKAGE HIGHLIGHTS
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Rs 20,928 cr for HPC Vizag refinery modernisation, 100% central assistance
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Rs 30,000 cr HPC and GAIL petrochemical complex in Kakinada, 100% central assistance
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Rs 655 cr to set up Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy in Visakhapatnam, 100% central assistance
