A makeover from a reel hero to real hero. This is how the triumphant journey of Jana Sena Founder- President, K Pawan Kalyan, is being hailed by one and all in Andhra Pradesh after the superb performance of his party as well the NDA Front in the results of State Assembly Elections declared on Tuesday. 

The Jana Sena and its chief actually reaped the fruits of the hard work put in since 2019 despite the dismal performance in 2019 elections with the Kalyan himself losing in two constituencies. 

Long before elections the popularity of Kalyan and the party has reached new heights with an expectation that JS was even in a position to sail alone in elections in the State with an aspiration to see Pawan Kalyan as the next chief minister.  

However, there were concerns when the  JS had settled for just 21 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats as part of the seat adjustments among its electoral allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Interestingly, Kalyan has been able to tide over opposition from some of the cadre of his party with a war cry of ‘sacrifice’ to end the YSRCP’s regime in the State as shown by the mandate given today. His calculations proved to be correct as the alliance with TDP and BJP proved to be beneficial. The electoral infrastructure of TDP in the form of a strong cadre was added to the popularity of Pawan Kalyan in the final battle. 

Gameplan

A carefully planned public interface coupled with honest and frank talk with the public during the campaigns helped Kalyan in his political rise now. He was the only politician who worked to fight for public issues despite losing the elections in 2019 and made it very clear that he could do more in the event of his victory in polls to facilitate his entry into the State Assembly.

The sharp criticism by Jagan Reddy and his YSRCP party senior leaders on his personal life including marriage actually earned him more popularity and sympathy among the general public, feel his partymen. Kalayan also won the hearts of the majority voters as the ‘King-Maker’ who made an `winning’ pre-poll alliance between the TDP and BJP possible.

Above all, Kalyan has been able to transcend his caste identity as a member of Kapu Community in his appeal. Going by his majority in victory, he could garner support from one and all, convincing them that he has no caste as a politician as well as an artist.