Through their election campaign, the YSR Congress taunted Chandrababu Naidu as `U-Turn Babu’. YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s sister Sharmila in particular, poked Naidu with the jibe at every election meeting. The reference was to Chandrababu Naidu having taken a U-turn on special category status – first accepting the package in lieu and then deciding against it – and the TDP’s relationship with the Congress – from foe since 1982 to alliance partner in Telangana to friend but not an ally in Andhra. 

But now the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh has allotted the sobriquet to another politician. Without naming Pawan Kalyan, YSRCP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Vijai Sai Reddy referred to the Jana Sena chief as “U-turn master” in a tweet. The reference was to Pawan’s latest position that the state capital should not be moved out of Amaravati. 

“Chandrababu’s secret partner has become a U-turn master. Earlier he called Amaravati as TDP government’s capital and now he says that he will protest if the capital city is shifted. How can we trust politicians who say they have come to change politics but cannot stand on what they said earlier,” Reddy said in a tweet in Telugu. 

During the elections, the YSRCP targeted Pawan’s Jana Sena alleging that it was in the fray only to split the anti-TDP vote. It is being speculated that the YSRCP has renewed the attack on Pawan indirectly because of the possibility of a TDP-Jana Sena alliance for the local body elections in Andhra Pradesh.