Pawan Kalyan
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Politics
As of 2025 Feb
Srikanth Aluri & Venu Lanka, March 9, 2025: The Times of India
Scene 1 : Telugu film star Pawan Kalyan dons saffron robes and performs penance over reports that animal fat was used in the preparation of laddoos at the revered Tirupati shrine in Andhra Pradesh. The move catches many in the Telugu film industry by surprise while southern politicians wonder if something had changed in the political landscape of Andhra Pradesh that Pawan had noticed and others had missed. Another unexpected twist pulled off by the ‘Power Star’, as Pawan is known among his legions of fans.
For those tracking his political career, the ‘Prayaschitta Deeksha’ that the Andhra deputy CM and JanaSena founder undertook right after the Tirupati row in Oct last year threw up two points to ponder. First, although JanaSena was part of the BJP-led NDA alliance, never before had Pawan worn his faith on his sleeve. Second, whether he was trying to carve out a political niche for himself and emerge as a Hindu leader of the South even though Hindutva had yet to find its feet in the region. In any event, it was a stark turnaround for a man who had once modelled himself on the global hero of the Left: Che Guevara.
A New Political Script?
BJP did exceptionally well in the two Telugu states in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning three seats in Andhra Pradesh and eight in Telangana for the first time. But does that mean people in the southern states are starting to break out of their calcified caste identities and preference for strong regional parties to discover their political Hindu identity? There is no definite answer to this question.
The saffron outfit’s performance by no means indicates that caste has lost its relevance or that the Hindu identity has suddenly become a political force in the south, observers say. But this uncertainty has not deterred Pawan.
Post the Prayaschitta Deeksha, he has embraced the role of the defender of Sanatan Dharma and nationalism in the South. He even took on Tamil superstar and founder of the TVK party, Vijay, for raking up the North-South divide. Although Pawan did not name Vijay in his attacks, it was easy to see that his viewpoint was fashioned as a counter to Vijay’s more Dravidian and secular line.
Though they now stand on either end of the political spectrum, Pawan and Vijay have a lot in common, both as actors and politicians. If Vijay has acted in Tamil remakes of some of Pawan’s movies, Pawan has starred in Telugu remakes of Vijay’s Tamil blockbusters. Both are known for reacting to social issues and playing them up in their movies.
Flashback: From Che To Hindutva
Vijay is still taking baby steps as a politician, but Pawan’s political career started with the Praja Rajyam Party, an outfit based on social justice and a centrist approach that his elder brother and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi merged with Congress in 2009. Pawan was to stay politically dormant until the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, but thereafter launched JanaSena Party to highlight Andhra’s cause, holding that the carving out of Telangana had denied the state its fair share.
At the time, Pawan was touted as the ‘Che Guevara’ of Andhra. With a life-sized portrait of the Argentinian revolutionary in the background and sporting a khaki shirt and red scarf around his neck, Pawan projected himself as a representative of the working class. Back then, he was also vocal about differences between the North and South and would often complain about North’s “dominance” over the South.
Even after joining hands with BJP in 2014 — he did not contest any polls that year — Pawan continued to rake up the North–South divide. Then, for the 2019 elections, he tied up with Left parties and BSP. However, after the 2019 elections, Pawan’s ideology started to change. He joined hands with BJP and, from then on, moved towards becoming an ‘unapologetic Sanatani’. Those close to him say Pawan veered towards religion-based politics to break the hold of caste in Andhra politics. It all started with JanaSena’s poor showing in the 2019 assembly and Lok Sabha elections with only one assembly seat to show for its efforts. Pawan himself lost the two assembly seats he contested.
Soon, he started raising the Hindutva pitch. He named his campaign vehicle as ‘Varahi’, after one of a group of seven mother goddesses in Hinduism, and took on the then YSRCP govt over alleged temple attacks between 2019 and 2024. The strategy culminated in a landslide victory in recent elections for JanaSena and its alliance partners TDP and BJP.
To Be Concluded
As he emerged as the Sanatan face of South India, the Tirupati laddu adulteration row gave an impetus to his pitch. He termed the case an attack on Sanatan Dharma and called for the creation of a ‘Sanatan Dharma Rakshana Board’ at the national level. By criticising the likes of DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee and historian Romila Thapar, Pawan made his intentions clear. He recently declared he was ready to lose votes for the dharma he believes in.
Those close to him say nobody can dictate terms to him, whether it is the BJP or TDP. His recent visit to temples in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are part of a bigger plan. Given his close association with PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, Pawan is most likely to campaign for NDA in future elections across South India. For the record, he can speak fluent Tamil.
