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Published Nov 17, 2025 | 4:00 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 17, 2025 | 4:00 PM
Pawan Kalyan, Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh
Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Pawan Kalyan — officially second in the pecking order and unofficially the state’s resident action hero — was conspicuous by his absence when “the world walked into Visakhapatnam” on 14 and 15 November to hear Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu pitching Andhra Pradesh as the next big investment hotspot.
The mega event, CII Partnership Summit, took off with all the fanfare one could pack into two days. The who’s who of the Telugu states mingled with Union ministers as Naidu rolled out the red carpet, determined to transform Andhra Pradesh into a land of milk and honey.
By the time the curtain dropped on the investment jamboree, the chief minister happily counted his coins, announcing that he had netted a handsome ₹13 lakh crore worth of commitments.
Meanwhile, Nara Lokesh — seen by many as the chief minister-in-waiting — mingled with investors with the kind of ease he seems to have mastered ever since the NDA steamrolled its way back to power in 2019.
But the deputy chief minister? Nowhere in sight. Maybe he was not around as he is the minister for environment and forest, and what business does he have hanging around investment summits?”
That, apparently, is enough to justify his absence from Vizag’s big stage.
While the spotlight shone on Naidu and his investment caravan in Visakhapatnam, he was keeping a hawk’s eye on smuggling operations in the Seshachalam forests and tracking what he believes to be a thriving beef trade in Visakhapatnam.
His office even released an aerial surveillance video of stretches of the Seshachalam forest. Soon after, the deputy chief minister, true to his style, was reportedly on the phone with officials in Vizag and Vijayawada, issuing instructions to curb red sanders smuggling and halt illegal cattle transport and beef business activities.
In a way, while Naidu was busy wooing global investors to pour money into Andhra Pradesh, Kalyan was trying to plug the leaks in the system, aiming at organised crime in Visakhapatnam and Chittoor.
One was selling the dream; the other was chasing the shadows. Between the two, the state had both an investment pitch and a crime-control script — almost like a political two-hero film where each is busy in his own subplot.
