As promised, Telugu Desam Party leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the distribution of NTR Bharosa Pension Scheme by personally distributing pensions to the beneficiaries at Penumaka village in Mangalagiri Assembly constituency on Monday morning.
As expected, the Naidu government took out full-page advertisements in all major newspapers in the state (except, of course, Sakshi, promoted by rival YSR Congress Party leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy) describing it as a state-wide “pension fest”.
In fact, this is not a new program and pensions have been provided to people of different classes for several years.
The only new aspect of the scheme is that pensions for all people except the disabled will be increased by Rs 1,000, while the disabled will receive an increase of Rs 3,000.
This is the Naidu government’s first scheme since the Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance came to power last month, so the government’s eagerness to trumpet the strengthening of the pension distribution scheme is understandable.
However, what surprised everyone was that the advertisement did not have a picture of Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party leader Pawan Kalyan.
An advertisement issued by the government earlier had a photograph of Pawan Kalyan next to that of Mr Naidu.
In fact, Naidu had directed authorities across the state to ensure that framed photographs of not only the Chief Minister but also the Deputy Chief Minister are displayed on the walls of all government offices.
So, it came as a big shock to Pawan Kalyan’s fans when his picture was not featured in a government advertisement regarding pension distribution.
It features only photographs of Naidu and NT Rama Rao, who of course gave the project its name NTR Bharosa.
So far, there has been no protest from Pawan Kalyan’s camp, but his fans have started commenting on social media.
They pointed out that in Telangana government advertisements, Deputy Chief Minister Mal Bhati Vikramarka’s photograph has been carried along with that of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
Whether it was accidental or deliberate, it would be better for Naidu to avoid such controversies in future and avoid creating the impression that there is any rift between him and Pawan Kalyan.
