Actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan had been claiming all these days that he had no caste discrimination and that he would not like to be considered as a Kapu leader.
However, during the recent elections, Pawan realized that politics in Andhra Pradesh were influenced by caste equations and caste has become an integral part of the lives of the electorate, especially in the rural areas.
Whether one agrees or not, the political parties in the state are linked to one party or the other.
It is an open secret that the Telugu Desam Party is dominated by Kammas, though it claims the BCs have been its backbone. Majority of the TDP tickets are given to leaders from Kamma community, which also used to grab lion’s share in the government contracts.
Similarly, the YSR Congress party is dominated by the Reddy community and over 50 MLAs of the party belong to this community. After Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power, Reddys have been posted in major positions in the government.
Pawan, who failed to exploit his Kapu vote bank, has now fallen in line and started talking on caste lines. Surprisingly, he seems to have decided to target the Reddy community to woo the Kapus, who have actually been anti-Kamma right from the beginning.
This is evident from his latest statements, in which he has been calling the chief minister as: “Jagan Reddy garu.” He has started accusing Jagan of favouring his own community in appointments and other positions.
Interestingly, he is sparing Kapu leaders in Jagan party like Botsa Satyanarayana and Avanti Srinivas while targeting Reddys.
It is expected that Pawan will come out more clarity on his stand on castes at the party’s political affairs committee meeting to be held at Dindi in East Godavari district on Thursday and Friday.
