Pawan Kalyan emerges a brand ambassador of BJP: Experts
Political analyst Ramu Suravajjula said that the election results in Maharashtra positioned Pawan Kalyan as a prominent advocate for implementing the BJP’s ideological vision
Hyderabad Jana Sena Party president and Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, whose aggressive campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the just concluded Maharashtra assembly elections resulted in a resounding victory in several constituencies, is turning out to be a virtual brand ambassador for the BJP, said analysts.
As the election results in Maharashtra on Saturday indicated, the BJP won in almost all the constituencies, including Ballarpur, Deglur, Pune, Solapur, Latur and Nanded, where Pawan Kalyan campaigned last week.
“He had drawn huge crowds wherever he campaigned. Such was the response to his rabble-rousing speeches from the people that there were requests from the BJP candidates in other adjacent constituencies for his campaign,” said a Jana Sena Party leader on condition of anonymity.
The way Pawan Kalyan propagated the concepts of Sanatan Dharma, nationalism combined with regionalism and spirit of Shivaji Maharaj, supported abrogation of Article 370 and raised slogans such as “Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji,” projected him as a true symbol of the right-wing ideology.
Political analyst Ramu Suravajjula said that the election results in Maharashtra positioned Pawan Kalyan as a prominent advocate for implementing the BJP’s ideological vision. “The BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, used Pawan Kalyan’s latest avatar as an unapologetic Sanatani to consolidate the Hindu vote bank in Maharashtra. He lived up to the expectations of Modi and Sangh,” he said.
He added that the resounding victory of NDA candidates for whom the Jana Sena Party chief campaigned hard increased his bond with Modi and the right-wing brigade. “Pawan Kalyan may make use of the latest camaraderie and positive image at national level for the benefit of Andhra Pradesh and also for his own political future,” he said.
In fact, Pawan Kalyan has been a long-time ally of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh and the party declared him as their chief ministerial candidate before it joined the Telugu Desam Party-led by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to contest the May 2024 assembly elections together and come to power in the state.
However, before or during the Andhra elections, Pawan Kalyan had never adopted the right-wing ideology so strongly as he started doing after the assembly elections. He began sporting saffron clothes now and then, talking about protection of Sanatan Dharma aggressively and condemning the sacrilege of Hindu temples in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
After the controversial episode of adulteration of ghee used for making of Tirupati laddu, Pawan Kalyan took up deeksha (penance) and called for the establishment of Sanatan Dharma Parirakshana Board to liberate the temple from politicians.
On November 2, Pawan Kalyan announced the formation of a new party wing, named Narasimha Varahi Brigade, dedicated to the protection of Sanatana Dharma in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Suravajjula said the BJP obviously sees Pawan Kalyan as a critical ally for amplifying its agenda in Andhra Pradesh, especially in a future scenario involving simultaneous national and state elections. “Though Naidu is also a strong alliance partner of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, he is seemingly reluctant to push the BJP’s ideological agenda. So, the BJP wants to make use of Pawan Kalyan to carry its message to the grassroots,” he said.
However, there are limitations for the BJP in promoting Pawan Kalyan ahead of Naidu in Andhra Pradesh. “First, it is Pawan Kalyan alone who is speaking the language of the right-wing brigade and not other leaders of his party. So far, none of his colleagues in Jana Sena has made any statement in support of his Hindutva ideology,” Suravajjula added.
Secondly, Jana Sena Party comprises leaders who defected from other political parties, including the Congress, TDP and YSR Congress party and so, they are from different ideological backgrounds who joined the Jana Sena Party for their political needs. They would not like to carry Pawan Kalyan’s saffron agenda, experts said.
Thirdly, Hindutva-based politics has never worked out in Andhra Pradesh, which is more caste oriented. Apart from his filmy image, Pawan Kalyan has the huge support base of Kapu community, which has more than 15% vote bank in the state. There is no guarantee that his new brand image of Sanatani will get traction from the Kapu community in the next elections, analysts added.
“However, the clout Pawan Kalyan has created as a Sanatani helps him as a highly reliable friend among the NDA partners. Maharashtra results brought name and fame to him at a national level. It will be interesting to see whether this new image will fetch him any electoral gains in Andhra Pradesh,” Suravajjula added.
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