Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan is likely to run away from Bhimavaram Assembly constituency for the 2024 general elections to the state Assembly. He lost the seat in 2019 by a margin of 8,357 votes. He came second in the run leaving TDP’s candidate Pulaparthi Ramanjaneyulu in the third place.
This time initially he tried to contest from Bhimavaram Assembly constituency. However, sources say that he had changed his mind now. He is currently planning to contest from Pithapuram Assembly constituency in Kakinada district.
Pithapuram Assembly constituency has a considerable size of Kapu votes on which Pawan Kalyan is now baking. Though he had said that he had come to politics against the caste system, and he never does caste-based politics, his shift from Bhimavaram to Pithapuram suggests that he too is on caste lines. He is going for the bigger size of the Kapu votes in Pithapuram when compared to Bhimavaram.
Pawan Kalyan had said so much about castes and the caste system in Andhra Pradesh. He said he would never do politics on caste based. He said he had come to politics for every caste and not just Kapu caste. He was under criticism from some Kapu leaders for not owning the caste. However, he remained neutral and not associated with the caste.
But with the elections fast approaching, Pawan Kalyan is playing the caste card. He seems to be no exception from caste-based politics. Like many of the politics, the Jana Sena chief too had turned towards his caste to rescue him this time.
It is easy to say that he is above castes or he is not interested in caste-based politics. Every leader would say this. But ultimately, they would lean towards their caste when the time comes. Thus, the time had come for Pawan Kalyan to lean towards his caste. This is the reason why Pawan Kalyan is moving from Bhimavaram to Pithapuram.
