Senior Kapu community leader Dasari Ramu has said that Jana Sena Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan should have engaged a political strategist like Prashant Kishor to grow independently in politics, instead of playing second fiddle to the Telugu Desam Party.
In an interview with a YouTube channel, Dasari Ramu compared Pawan Kalyan’s political journey with that of Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijay.
He said Vijay entered politics at the right time and benefited from strategic political planning and professional guidance, including advice from political strategist Prashant Kishor.
Ramu said Vijay’s party manifesto was designed in a simple and appealing manner, particularly targeting women voters.
In contrast, he questioned whether either Chiranjeevi during the Praja Rajyam era or Pawan Kalyan later had ever engaged experienced political strategists.
He also questioned whether Pawan had properly assessed the timing and circumstances before entering politics.
Dasari Ramu said the public initially did not trust Pawan Kalyan when he launched Jana Sena because of the earlier merger of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress.
According to him, public confidence in Pawan increased only after he remained active in politics even after the party’s defeat in the 2019 elections.
He opined that in 2014, Pawan Kalyan should have fielded at least 10 MLA candidates from Jana Sena.
He argued that the political climate at the time was such that then TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu might have agreed to such an arrangement.
Ramu claimed that both Praja Rajyam and Jana Sena suffered because of poor timing and strategic miscalculations, resulting in the efforts of Kapu leaders and supporters going in vain.
He alleged that the Kapu community had ultimately helped only other dominant communities politically.
The Kapu leader accused Pawan Kalyan of changing his stance on community politics.
He recalled that Pawan had earlier called upon Kapus to play the role of “elder brothers” in society, but was now questioning the relevance of caste identities.
Ramu advised Pawan to avoid invoking the Kapu community in politics if he no longer intended to represent its interests.
He also questioned why Pawan now claims he never entered politics to become Chief Minister, asking why such clarity was not given when Jana Sena was first launched.
According to Dasari Ramu, he had personally advised Pawan Kalyan before the 2024 elections to demand 40 to 50 Assembly seats and seek a one-year chief ministership term as part of the alliance arrangement.
However, he claimed that Pawan responded by saying, “Leave the strategy to me.”
Dasari Ramu further criticised Pawan Kalyan over his comments related to slain Kapu leader Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga.
He questioned why Pawan was asking why Kapus had failed to protect Ranga, while allegedly not paying tributes to the leader on his birth or death anniversaries after coming to power.
He warned Pawan against unnecessarily insulting the Kapu community and said that if Jana Sena openly declared it did not need Kapu votes, the community would chart its own political course.
Ramu asserted that Kapus were the primary social group that politically confronted Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.
He accused Pawan Kalyan of using the community for political gain and later sidelining it.
Warning of political repercussions, Dasari Ramu said the ruling alliance could face a major setback from Kapu voters in the upcoming local body elections.
He added that BJP leaders entered into an alliance with the TDP in 2024 largely because of pressure from Pawan Kalyan.
However, he expressed disappointment over developments after the alliance came to power and indicated that alternative political options, including the BJP, could be explored in the future.
