The custodial death of 25-year-old Gadi Sai Krishna in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada has given the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) an opportunity to capitalize on growing discontent among sections of the Kapu community, who are already resentful of Jan Sena chief Pawan Kalyan’s indifference to their concerns.
In the wake of the custodial deaths of Kapu youth, the YSRCP has, over the past few days, aggressively sought to show that the Jana Sena, which came to power with its alliance partners – the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – on the strength of Kapu support, no longer adequately represents the interests of the community.
The politically influential community in Andhra Pradesh, the Kapus and their affiliated caste groups such as the Baligas, Telagas and Untaris constitute 15.2% of the state’s population, according to official figures.
While the Kapos are spread across the state, East and West Godavari districts are their strongholds. Traditionally, the Kabus were seen as rivals to the Kama community, another dominant caste group that represents 4.8% of the state’s population.
In 2008, Kapus tried to establish itself as a political vote bank when prominent Telugu film actor Chiranjeevi floated the Praja Rajyam Party. However, the party failed to make a significant impact in the 2009 Assembly elections in undivided Andhra Pradesh, winning only 18 of the 294 Assembly seats with a vote share of 17.5%. Chiranjeevi merged the party with Congress in February 2011.
In 2014, Chiranjeevi’s younger brother, Pawan Kalyan, launched the Jana Sena Party, but did not contest the elections held after the partition of Andhra Pradesh. Instead, he supported the BJP-TDP alliance.
In the 2019 elections, the Jana Sena contested in alliance with the Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party but failed to make an impact, winning only one assembly seat with a vote share of 5.54%.
In 2024, Pawan Kalyan teamed up with the BJP and TDP, and the Jana Sena registered a resounding victory by winning all the 21 Assembly seats and the two Lok Sabha seats it contested.
“This is because the Kapos embraced Pawan Kalyan as their own messiah and voted for the Jana Sena Party far beyond their expectations, and played a vital role in the coalition’s victory, even though they were not entirely happy with the seat-sharing agreement with the LDF. They were hoping that Pawan Kalyan would protect their interests and rise to the level of chief minister one day,” political analyst Ramu Survajola said.
However, over the past two years, Pawan Kalyan has failed to live up to the expectations of the community, according to several Kapu leaders. Instead, they say, he increasingly relied on Kamma leaders such as Nadendla Manohar, Ram Talluri, and Lingamanini Ramesh.
His recent decision to nominate Lingamaneni Ramesh for the Rajya Sabha post has angered many Kapu leaders, who have started criticizing him openly.
“Pawan Kalyan has failed to do enough for the society after assuming office. Kapu leaders cannot reach him. He is playing second fiddle to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu,” Kapu Sangam leader Dasari Ramu alleged.
However, Pawan Kalyan hit back at his critics from Kapu organisations, saying he cannot be made into a single cult leader.
“Can anyone dare to say that Jagan Mohan Reddy should protect the Reddy community and Chandrababu Naidu Kamma community? Why am I being portrayed as a Kapu leader?” he asked at a party meeting a few weeks ago.
Stressing that his policies were based on public good rather than caste mobilization, Pawan said he was trying to break down traditional caste barriers rather than reinforce them.
“I am tired of these Kapu leaders. Let them choose a Kapu leader of their choice and declare him the prime ministerial candidate,” he challenged.
Sai Krishna’s custodial death has added a caste dimension to the political debate, with YSRCP leaders accusing Pawan Kalyan of remaining silent despite the victim’s belonging to the Kapu community.
“How can anyone attribute caste to a history paper and accuse me of failing to protect the interests of society?” Pawan Kalyan asked.
The YSRCP moved quickly to position itself as a political voice for the aggrieved Kapu leaders. On June 22, the party held a meeting of Kapu leaders in Kakinada to discuss its political strategy. The meeting was attended by former ministers Kurasala Kannababu, Dadisiti Raja and Botsa Satyanarayana, former MLA Thota Trimurthulu, former MP Vanga Geetha and several other senior Kapu leaders.
They alleged that Pawan Kalyan became a pawn of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to divert public attention from sensitive issues, including the custodial death of Sai Krishna.
“Why is Pawan Kalyan silent about the unfulfilled promises made to Kapus, including Kapu reservations, Kapu Nestham and annual allotments to Kapu?” Kanababu asked.
Although Pawan Kalyan has consistently maintained that he represents all communities, much of the Jana Sena’s organizational network and electoral influence remains concentrated in Kapu-dominated areas, especially the Godavari areas.
The YSRCP seems to believe that even limited dissatisfaction among Kapu opinion makers could gradually weaken the Jana Sena’s political dominance within the community.
But Jana Sena leaders rejected the allegations and termed them politically motivated.
“During the previous YSRCP government, the 5% EWS reservation for Kapus was withdrawn. Kapu remained largely inactive, scholarships were delayed, Kapu Kalyana Mandapams were neglected, and overseas educational assistance failed to reach deserving students,” Minister Kandula Durgesh said.
Sorfajola said many kapo members were frustrated as they found it difficult to get their work done despite the Jana Sena being part of the ruling coalition.
“They believe that TDP leaders still dominate the administration while marginalizing Jana Sena leaders,” he said.
He said Pawan Kalyan was alienating his community members in an attempt to project himself as the leader of all communities.
“This shows his political immaturity,” Sorfajola said. “It would be better if he avoided talking about caste altogether while quietly retaining Kapos’ support as his main political base.”
