Jana Sena chief and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has on many occasions said one thing first, only to completely reverse his stance later. Now, once again, he appears to have landed in such a situation. This time, it is over the appointment of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Executive Officer (EO). After the state bifurcation, when the TDP first came to power, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu broke a long-standing tradition. With the influence of an IAS officer known to function like a politician, and for other reasons, Chandrababu, for the first time, appointed Anil Kumar Singhal, a North Indian officer, as TTD EO. In fact, until then, the TTD EO post had always been allotted to senior IAS officers from the state. But in 2017, Chandrababu, whether for political reasons or under other pressures, broke this tradition and appointed Anil Kumar Singhal as EO. At that time, Pawan Kalyan, as Jana Sena chief, strongly opposed this decision.
He not only questioned on Twitter how such an important post could be given to a North Indian IAS officer—something never done before—but also demanded that Chandrababu give a public explanation. He clarified that he was not against North Indian IAS officers, but questioned whether temples in North India of such prominence would allow South Indian officers to be appointed in a similar manner. The tweet made by Pawan Kalyan on May 8, 2017, has now gone viral on social media. Cut to the present: the same Anil Kumar Singhal has once again been appointed as TTD EO under the coalition government in which Jana Sena is a key partner and Pawan Kalyan himself is Deputy Chief Minister. He formally took charge on Wednesday. But now, Pawan Kalyan remains silent on the matter, and social media is filled with widespread criticism against him for his double standards.
Another key point here is that during the stampede tragedy in Tirupati, in which six devotees lost their lives, Pawan Kalyan had demanded action not only against the TTD EO but also against the JEO. Jana Sena circles revealed that at the time, he had also demanded that they apologise for the incident, but they never responded. However, in the recent transfers, while the government shifted EO Shyamala Rao, it left the JEO untouched. Moreover, the same Anil Kumar Singhal—whom Pawan Kalyan had once strongly opposed—has now been appointed EO for the second time. As a result, this has now become a hot topic not only on social media but also in political circles.