Published Jun 03, 2026 | 12:36 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 03, 2026 | 12:36 PM
Pawan Kalyan seen addressing the media.
Synopsis: Pawan Kalyan, by any measure, is a non-entity in Telangana. Period. And as for Andhras in Telangana, they are now what Telugus in Karnataka, Maharashtra are. Be here, do your jobs, businesses and prosper. That’s where the line is drawn.
Saffron-tinted poster boy for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister and film star Pawan Kalyan, displayed histrionics in Hyderabad on June 2, the formation day of Telangana, taking potshots at hardcore protagonists of a separate state and declaring his freedom to fight from anywhere in the country, including Telangana.
In getting riled up over Pawan’s remarks challenging the identity of Telangana as he pursues vote bank politics ahead of the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Telanganites are ignoring some fundamentals.
Pawan Kalyan, by any measure, is a non-entity in Telangana and his capacity to influence the thinking of people is clearly overhyped. Period.
Back in his home state itself, Pawan’s non-serious approach to politics has been more than evident in the two years since he started sharing power with the Telugu Desam. Jana Sena MLAs and leaders lament that he hardly made any effort to build the organisation, The situation is so pathetic that they don’t even have a party office to hold a meeting or press conference because Pawan began using the building for himself. It is also well known that he has no time for his own party leaders and MLAs for any sort of conversation.
To guess then that Pawan’s latest attempt to stir the political pot in Telangana is an offshoot of the “experimental” politics that the BJP is known for does not require any political acumen. And, the latter might as well abandon it at some point if the results are not in its favour.
In fact, Nikhil, an associate with the well-known political research organisation People’s Pulse, currently touring Khammam district abutting Andhra Pradesh, points out that these antics have hardly found any resonance with the local people, including a good number of Andhras who have settled there. None was found discussing it.
Let us look at the possible trigger. Remember that it was just a month ago that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the residences of both Pawan and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad during his visit to the city. He spent considerable time with both of them separately. While what transpired between them is not known, the purpose was clear: how to play the GHMC elections.
Apart from Khammam and Nizamabad districts, GHMC is where Andhras are concentrated in big numbers and political parties believe their preference will impact the outcome in a significant manner. Overall, they are in sizable numbers in about 15-20 of the 119 Assembly constituencies across Telangana.
With its Telangana leaders utterly failing in challenging the ruling Congress, the BJP brought in Pawan Kalyan to do the job. Unsurprisingly, his attack was largely aimed at the Congress during the course of his press conference on June 2.
“Who can stop me from coming to Hyderabad?” Kalyan thundered. Fact: Both he and his extended family, including brother and Telugu film superstar Chiranjeevi, have been living in the city for decades and built assets over the years. None objected.
“Now that you (Telanganites) are questioning my right to do politics in Telangana, I have decided to contest elections here in future,” was his other declaration.
Fact: Jana Sena, his party, contested even the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana and ended up with dismal performance. In the more recent municipal elections in Telangana, some of his party candidates polled votes in the single digits.
In the process of making such pronouncements (Pawan once claimed he was a follower of the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara before he made a 360-degree turn and wore saffron robes), the Andhra politician ridiculed himself.
“I could not become chief minister of Andhra Pradesh itself. What do you think I will achieve in Telangana? Why are you afraid of me doing politics here? Our party membership in Telangana is just about a lakh and only about 1000 of them are active,” he revealed.
By all accounts, Pawan does not possess either the energy or discipline needed to pursue serious politics in Telangana if his track record in the two years that he has been in power in Andhra Pradesh is any indication. He has not attended a majority of the Andhra Cabinet meetings and met his partymen for a review only once. He is otherwise preoccupied. Read it whichever way you want.
With the BJP testing the waters in Telangana through Pawan (the Telugu Desam of Chandababu Naidu is still playing a waiting game), Congress Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy does not want to be left behind. He recently inaugurated a statue of late NT Rama Rao, founder of Telugu Desam, and is making no secret of his intentions to woo the “settlers” (as Andhras who settled in Hyderabad and the rest of Telangana) are referred to.
The Congress and BJP-plus are essentially eyeing to drink water from the same catchment.
In fact, Revanth Reddy went to the extent of showering praise on Congress icon Indira Gandhi and NT Rama Rao in the same breath. Either he doesn’t remember history, or he thinks others do not know. The very birth of Telugu Desam was on the plank of anti-Congressism and combating Indira Gandhi.
The Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), seen as the architect of Telangana state, is watching the emerging developments for now without an aggressive response.
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“Telugus are everywhere. In Bengaluru, Sholapur and Mumbai. Are the locals objecting to their presence?” Pawan questioned. He forgets that an estimated 30-40 lakh Andhras have been living in Telangana for years and peacefully too, even during the peak of statehood agitation. They continue to move to Hyderabad even now for want of growth and jobs in the state ruled by Pawan and company.
The question is not about any Indian citizen’s right to live anywhere he/she wants to. It’s about the mindset which seeks to dominate the local populace. Have Telugus in Karnataka and Maharashtra ever tried to dominate or dictate the local politics and policies?
Andhras in Telangana are now what Telugus in Karnataka, Maharashtra are. Be here, do your jobs, businesses and prosper. That’s where the line is drawn.
If at all, the BRS has often been accused of not paying enough attention to consolidating the identity of Telangana during its 10-year rule after the formation of the state. The party failing to even install a statue of Telangana ideologue, Prof Jayashankar, (without whom a separate state concept would not even have taken birth) is a mistake that not many would condone.
That said, in trying to now challenge the identity of Telangana, Revanth Reddy and the BJP combination are playing with fire. “It’s poor politics. In trying to get one vote (Andhras), they are likely to lose three votes. They do not seem to understand the strength of Telangana identity in the minds of people,” says Prof Kodandram, prominent among Telangana statehood fighters, and now a member of the Telangana Legislative Council.
Prof Ghanta Chakrapani, Telangana ideologue and currently vice-chancellor of the BR Ambedkar Open University, feels the time is ripe for a fresh cultural movement that combines Telangana identity with social justice, equity and secularism as its core. Like the Dravidian ideology that emerged in Tamil Nadu and continues to remain strong even today.
Revanth Reddy campers, however, seem to believe that the move to own up the Andhras will not have an effect in the rest of Telangana while it would fetch dividends in the GHMC limits. “In rural Telangana, it will be the usual factors—caste, money and development—that matter. We don’t think people there are bothered even if we are seen as being soft towards Andhras in Hyderabad,” a Congress MLA from Mahboobnagar district told The South First.
Both Revanth Reddy and the BJP also seem to think that “Telangana identity” is not an emotion for the Gen Z who have neither seen nor were part of the statehood movement. All of them would turn voters when the next elections happen in 2028 and their choice would depend more on what the principal parties offer at that point of time and not so much on history.
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However, there is another catch. With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) expected to be taken up soon, will the Andhras continue to remain voters in Telangana? Until now, they have been voting in both the Telugu states. This would not be possible anymore as the SIR process is meant to cut duplication across constituencies/states.
Therefore, they will have to make a choice now. Keep their vote in Telangana and be a part of the political process here or prefer to choose who should govern their parent state. In all likelihood, they may prefer the latter option. In such an eventuality, this catchment of voters is bound to dry up.
Nevertheless, what Revanth Reddy and saffron leaders seem to ignore is the danger of stoking the kind of fire that they have lit up and underestimating the strength of Telangana identity in the process.
For now, BRS patriarch and former chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao seems to be of the view that it is a “trap” by his political rivals and has advised his party leaders not to fall into it.
But, if it plays out the way it began, there will be a time when the BRS will be compelled to give up its “please-all” attitude of keeping the Andhras and the hardcore Telangana constituents happy. It managed to do that when in power in the belief that unsettling the settlers will impact the growth of a newly-born state. In the process, it did not pay enough attention to protecting and promoting the cultural heritage of Telangana and distanced itself from many who played a key role in the statehood movement.
However, it would be difficult to stay with the same theory if another round of agitation gains momentum. Watchers of KCR’s political trajectory believe that he is more than capable of exploiting the sentiments when the time comes and for all that we know he could be smiling over the goings-on sitting in his farmhouse on the city outskirts.
His rivals would be well served if they remember what famous poet late Andesri once said in a private conversation. “Irrespective of where it rains, the water will ultimately flow to the fields of KCR.”
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(Edited by Rajesh Kumar)
