Behind The News is your round up of musings from the corridors of power. While the rest of the southern states are gnashing their teeth at what they see as Delhi’s stealthy Hindi-isation agenda, Pawan Kalyan has drawn a big fat line — Andhra Pradesh, he says, is not part of the “Hindi-hating pack”.
Published Jul 14, 2025 | 11:12 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 14, 2025 | 11:12 AM
Pawan Kalyan. (X)
Synopsis: Pawan Kalyan endorsed Hindi as the Rashtra Bhasha, and he lovingly conferred upon Hindi the elevated status of Peddamma — the elder maternal aunt.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has once again pulled off what he is best at — grabbing the spotlight, for better or worse. Just when people thought he was on a brief sabbatical, juggling scripts and shooting schedules, he bounced back into the news cycle with a spicy twist to the long-simmering “South vs Hindi” debate.
At a Rajya Bhasha Vibhag event organised by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Pawan Kalyan went full throttle, endorsing Hindi as the Rashtra Bhasha (national language). And just to make sure that nobody missed the sentiment, he lovingly conferred upon Hindi the elevated status of Peddamma — the elder maternal aunt.
Now, anyone from Andhra knows that you don’t invoke family without inviting comparisons. If Hindi is Peddamma, then naturally, Telugu is Amma.
However, who ranks higher? Peddamma, by age and authority? Or Amma, by love and necessity? Pawan Kalyan seems to have left that to interpretation — perhaps on purpose. Maybe it is his version of an emotional cliffhanger.
His affectionate analogy, however, has landed smack in the middle of a touchy South Indian linguistic battlefield. While the rest of the southern states are gnashing their teeth at what they see as Delhi’s stealthy Hindi-isation agenda, Pawan Kalyan has drawn a big fat line — Andhra Pradesh, he says, is not part of the “Hindi-hating pack”. Incidentally, states that are opposed to Hindi imposition are opposed to just that – imposition, not the language itself.
As the deputy chief minister and an important cog in the TDP-led NDA wheel, Pawan’s stance carries political weight. The implication? If he’s calling Hindi Peddamma, then the state’s official line better follow suit — or risk looking like there’s trouble in the alliance family.
However, let us be real. In Andhra Pradesh, the average person is far more obsessed with their caste identity than with linguistic or religious issues. As long as Hindi doesn’t become the next rallying point for political outrage, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is unlikely to stir the pot.
He and Pawan Kalyan are more than happy to play along with the BJP’s Hindi-as-a-unifying-force narrative, especially at a time when even the Hindi heartland is showing signs of linguistic fatigue.
While Pawan Kalyan bats for Amma Bhasha at home and Peddamma Bhasha in Delhi, political analysts are still scratching their heads: Was he uplifting Hindi, or elevating Telugu, or wants to revel in watching how the speculation mill will grind the new grist.
Either way, the debate rages on. And Pawan Kalyan, as always, is right where he likes to be — at the centre of it all.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
