For the last three days, several parts of Andhra Pradesh, particularly the Krishna and Guntur districts, have been reeling under unprecedented floods in the Krishna River, and heavy rains have been pounding many other parts of the state.
The entire official machinery of the Chandrababu Naidu government is fully engaged around the clock in relief operations.
At the age of 74, Naidu has been spending sleepless nights personally attending to the relief work and reviewing the situation with officials from time to time.
Most of his party leaders, including ministers and MLAs from the affected areas, have jumped into action, supervising the flood relief work, at least for the sake of publicity.
The opposition YSR Congress Party leaders, including party president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, are also among the people in their own way, aiming to gain some political mileage from the crisis while helping the flood victims.
However, one person who has been conspicuously absent is Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan. Nobody knows where he is, as his office has not informed the public of his whereabouts.
Yes, it was Pawan Kalyan’s birthday on Monday, and he has reportedly gone to Singapore with his wife to spend his birthday there. He might have left much before the calamity struck the state.
But he is not just an actor; he is a responsible public servant in his capacity as Deputy Chief Minister. Therefore, it should have been the duty of the party or his office to inform the public of his whereabouts.
Even if he was in Singapore celebrating his birthday, Pawan Kalyan would likely have been informed about the devastating floods in Vijayawada and Guntur. In fact, even his party office in Mangalagiri and his land in Kaza were inundated by the floods.
Surprisingly, there has not been a single statement from the Power Star expressing grief over the loss of lives in the floods, the damage it caused to the state, or the suffering of the flood victims. Not even his top leaders, including his elder brother Nagababu, have issued any statements.
The only statement from the party was about Jana Sena Party workers and Pawan Kalyan fans distributing food packets and fruits to the flood-affected people on the occasion of his birthday!