The situation in the Andhra Pradesh government appears to be one where everyone is acting according to their own preferences. There is discussion even within government circles that such a situation had never existed in the past. Since it is a coalition government, comments are being heard that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu no longer has complete control. For the past two days, a collectors’ conference was held at the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chandrababu Naidu. During the meeting, the Chief Minister provided direction and guidance to the district collectors on administrative matters. However, Pawan Kalyan, the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and another key minister, Nara Lokesh, did not attend this important collectors’ meeting. Neither of them participated on even a single day of the two-day conference. It is not clear whether Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan stayed away because he was busy with the release preparations of his film Ustaad Bhagat Singh or for some other reason, but he remained absent from the meetings. Not only the collectors’ meetings, there have been instances in the past when he stayed away from cabinet meetings and even assembly sessions as well.
On some occasions, it was stated that he stayed away due to health issues, but in some other cases the actual reasons did not come out. Even before the collectors’ conference began, the film unit released photos showing Pawan Kalyan dubbing for his film Ustaad Bhagat Singh. Because of this, discussions are now taking place that Pawan Kalyan skipped the collectors’ meeting due to his film work. Another important point is that during the second day of the collectors’ conference held on Thursday, issues related to the Forest Department, which is handled by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, were discussed. Reports also said that Chandrababu Naidu expressed anger at Forest Department officials over certain matters. During the same meeting, the Chief Minister advised the officials that the Forest Department should become more people-friendly. Referring to the difficulties that had arisen recently due to the conduct of Forest Department officials, the Chief Minister said that he had already discussed the matter with the Deputy Chief Minister and would speak to him again. Chandrababu Naidu also remarked that while the police in the state had become people-friendly, the Forest Department had not changed. He said that more complaints than ever before were being received regarding the Forest Department.
Meanwhile, another key minister Nara Lokesh attended a dinner hosted in Delhi by Union Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday and also took part in other programmes there. On Thursday, he met the Global CEO of Capgemini and others in Visakhapatnam and explained investment opportunities in the state. There were also occasions in the past when Nara Lokesh skipped cabinet meetings. Whatever the reasons may be, while all other ministers attended the collectors’ conference, the absence of Pawan Kalyan and Nara Lokesh from these important meetings has become a major topic of discussion. On Thursday evening, Nara Lokesh laid the foundation stone for the establishment of a Sagar Defence Engineering industry at Juvvaladinne in Nellore district. Interestingly, neither the Industries Minister nor any of the two ministers from the district attended the event, and Nara Lokesh alone handled the entire programme.