Civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju shocked many by stating on Tuesday that he does not know who Pawan Kalyan is.
Ashok responded like this at a media interaction in Eluru of West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, when reporters wanted to know his reaction to Power Star Pawan Kalyan's objection to the appointment of North Indian IAS officer Anil Kukar Singhal as executive officer (EO) of the prestigious Tirumala Balaji temple.
"You mention certain names. I don't know who they are. Some people say that person is from film industry. It's been many years since I watched films. How do I know?" he said.
Tollywood Power Star Pawan Kalyan had launched his own Jana Sena political party in 2014 and supported the BJP-TDP combine. Interestingly, Ashok Gajapathi Raju is a member of the TDP politburo, which took the decision to take Pawan along in the 2014 May elections, after a thorough debate. Pawan also participated in the NDA election campaign meetings at many places across Andhra Pradesh.In August last year, Pawan targeted Ashok Gajapathi Raju for continuing in the Narendra Modi government despite it refusing to accord special category status (SCS) to bifurcated Andhra Pradesh as promised by the previous Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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