Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan today said that his comments about the volunteer system in Andhra Pradesh have been misconstrued. He said that he never meant to chastise the system as a whole. The system has seen the participation of thousands of youngsters.
Speaking at a book launch event on Thursday, Pawan said that the personal data collected by the volunteers fell into the hands of a Hyderabad-based company. "The volunteers are not to be wronged for this. Only a few volunteers have played a role in compromising the data," he said.
In July 2023, Pawan didn't sound this way. He blamed volunteers for the many missing women and girls in AP. “The volunteer system has already emerged as dangerous and has become a threat to privacy as it possesses sensitive data of households in the 33,000 villages in the State," he was quoted as saying by The Hindu at that time.
Pawan has taken a U-Turn after realizing that his comments have demonized ordinary men and women from economically backward backgrounds. Fearing electoral backlash, he has toned down.
