Will 'Telugu Dabbang' be the BJP's superhit formula in Andhra?

Pawan should draw a cautionary lesson or two from his brother Chiranjeevi who, despite a fan base which was three times bigger, failed to make it in politics on his own, says Vicky Nanjappa

Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, popularly known as ‘Telugu Dabbang’, delivered an extremely confusing speech at the launch of his Jana Sena Party recently.

In his speech, Pawan spoke against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh but in the same breath, talked about the respect he has for the Telangana sentiment.

Now, political analysts in Andhra Pradesh are wondering what his next move will be.

The popular actor has made his antipathy to the Congress abundantly clear in spite of the fact that his brother and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi is a senior leader of the party.

Pawan is exploring the possibility of forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and he, according to sources, is planning to meet the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

The BJP and the Telugu Desam Party have not yet announced an alliance officially but the latter may be more agreeable about joining hands with the saffron party if Pawan, with his immense fan base, also comes on board.

Though the TDP is wary about joining hands with the BJP due to the latter’s avowed support to Telangana, it is aware of the fact that Pawan’s party will eat into its vote share in coastal Andhra.

Pawan may not be able to contest either the Lok Sabha or the assembly polls as the political party floated by him has not been registered yet by the Election Commission.

But he has made it clear that he will openly support his favoured candidates to ensure the Congress’s defeat.

However, Pawan should draw a cautionary lesson or two from his brother Chiranjeevi who, despite a fan base which was three times bigger, failed to make it in politics on his own.

In fact, Pawan had campaigned for his brother’s Praja Rajyam Party in 2009, but they fell out when Chiranjeevi decided to merge his PRP with the Congress.

Pawan, who hails from the Kapu community, will focus on attracting the votes of the community which has a 17 per cent vote share in Andhra Pradesh.

Chiranjeevi is also expected to go all out and target that vote bank.

The Congress is counting on Chiranjeevi’s charisma to at least score some face-saving votes in the Seema-Andhra region.

Meanwhile, the TDP has been sending out feelers to Pawan and urging him to join the party during the campaign. The party feels that Pawan will attract the votes of the Kapu community as well as those of the legion of his fans.

Pawan has made it clear that he will not join any party and he will campaign under the banner of the Jana Sena.

But he is, according to political experts, most likely to team up with the BJP.

Pawan will help the saffron party garner votes in the Seema-Andhra region as well as build pressure on the TDP to ink an electoral alliance.

But the BJP is hesitant about Pawan, who has openly spoken out against the division of Andhra, campaigning in Telangana for the saffron party.

Image: A scene from Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu