Olive green is Defence colour: Pawan Kalyan's Varahi gets into controversy

HYDERABAD: Pawan Kalyan, the actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Party (JSP) president, sparked off yet another controversy when he unveiled his election campaign vehicle 'Varahi' on Wednesday.

Pawan Kalyan's election vehicle, christened as Varahi, which resembles a military vehicle, was unveiled amid much fanfare but drew flak for using the colour "Olive Green" for the civilian private vehicle.

According to Section 121 of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act, no motor vehicle, including agricultural tractors and construction equipment vehicles, should be painted olive green unless it belongs to the Defense Department.

An Indian Army Colonel has clarified that "Olive Green" shade is prohibited for use on civilian vehicles and is prohibited. Use of the combat or olive green military pattern colour by any civilian is utterly prohibited and illegal."

Pawan Kalyan took to Twitter on Wednesday and shared a slew of photos and videos of the vehicle. Pawan can be seen in the photos standing next to the vehicle. He also included a video of the vehicle running while the bodyguards walked by. The Janasena chief named his vehicle Varahi, after one of Goddess Durga's seven matrikas, Varahi Amma.

Pawan Kalyan inspected the vehicle, which was built with high security measures and modern technology, and took it for a test drive in Hyderabad on Wednesday. He even made some recommendations to Jana Sena leaders and the technical experts who are working on it.

Since olive green is not authorized for private vehicles, it is unclear if Pawan Kalyan would be asked to change the colour of the vehicle.

The Colonel said that the Ministry of Defence could initiate action against anybody using defence colours for vehicles or sporting defence outfits.