Pawan Kalyan doesn't have courage to question Chandrababu Naidu: Jagan Mohan Reddy

The opposition leader noted that Kalyan does not hesitate to target a woman Dalit minister.

Reacting to Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan's criticism of home minister Vangalapudi Anitha, YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Thursday that the actor-turned-politician didn't have the "boldness" to question chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan addresses a gathering.(ANI)

Pawan Kalyan criticised Anitha over the alleged decline in law and order in Andhra Pradesh. Stating that the situation would be different if he was the home minister, Kalyan urged Anitha to take her job seriously and uphold law and order in the state during a recent public meeting.

Jagan Mohan Reddy took exception to the remark.

"Whose responsibility is law and order? Isn’t it directly under the Chief Minister? Whom should you (Kalyan) question when law and order fails? Not Chandrababu Naidu? He (Kalyan) doesn’t have the boldness to question Chandrababu Naidu," Jagan Mohan Reddy said at a press conference at his residence in Tadepalli.

Expressing surprise at the deputy chief minister highlighting the failure of law and order in the state, the opposition leader noted that Kalyan does not hesitate to target a woman Dalit minister.

Jagan Mohan Reddy further questioned Kalyan’s response when a TDP councillor’s husband allegedly raped a Dalit woman in a dumpyard in the deputy CM’s constituency.

"He doesn’t have the courage to question Chandrababu Naidu, but he will say he’ll ‘skin people alive’ and deliver movie dialogues," Reddy remarked.

Jagan Reddy further said all sectors of the economy have been suffering under the NDA government's rule.

"Over these five months, no section has escaped their (NDA government’s) betrayal. All systems have been undermined, and the state is navigating through these destructive conditions," he claimed.

Earlier this year, N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP and Pawan Kalyan's Janasena Party scored a landslide victory in Andhra Pradesh. They later formed a government.

With inputs from PTI