Somu Veerraju, the newly appointed president of Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party called on actor Chiranjeevi at the latter’s residence in Hyderabad today. The meeting raised several eyebrows because both of them belong to the numerically stronger Kapu community which makes up 27 per cent of the population.
Chiranjeevi dabbled in politics by entering into electoral fray in 2009 with the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP). The actor-turned-politician’s party was able to garner 17% votes in the then united Andhra Pradesh earning 18 assembly and losing all Lok Sabha (LS) parliamentary seats. The Kapu community rallied with Praja Rajyam party until it was merged into the Congress in 2011. Younger brother and actor Pawan Kalyan who had campaigned for his brother in 2009 had differed with the merger and parted ways. He founded the Jana Sena Party (JS) in March of 2014 and extended his support to Telugu Desam party (TDP) and BJP who fought the polls together in newly formed Telangana and bifurcated Andhra Pradesh. A majority of the Kapu community voted for TDP this time and played a vital role in Nara Chandrababu Naidu forming government.
Pawan Kalyan and Chandrababu Naidu’s relationship blew hot and cold during the next 5 years ultimately leading to several differences in opinion over policies. The TDP and JS went into the electoral battle separately in 2019. While the TDP was routed and handed its worst ever defeat winning just 23 assembly seats and 3 LS parliamentary seats, JS won just one seat. Pawan Kalyan lost from both Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram.
TDP was able to secure a substantial Kapu vote percentage of 46% while Jana Sena managed 22%. The Kapu vote bank stood divided benefiting YS Jaganmohan Reddy of YSR Congress Party who went on to form the Government with a huge mandate of 151 assembly and 22 LS parliamentary seats. This is undoubtedly a record which will be tough to beat in the future, even by YS Jagan himself.
With the money and muscle power of YSRCP growing day by day, Pawan Kalyan met senior leaders of BJP in New Delhi and managed to arrange a pre-poll alliance between the two parties in order to face the challenges that lay ahead. BJP had set its eye on the Kapu vote bank from the beginning and appointed Guntur strongman Kanna Lakshminarayana from the same community as President before the elections. Nota bagged more votes than BJP in 2019.
Kanna Lakshminarayana was recently replaced by Somu Veerraju who belongs to the same Kapu community. Their long term plan is to use Pawan Kalyan and create an alternative power structure to the ruling Reddy and Kamma communities who have shared power between themselves since decades. Even though the Kapu community has been trying hard to attain a foothold in the political landscape like the powerful Reddy and Kamma, they suffer from lack of consolidation and leadership. With firm plans to shore up their winnability in the Southern States of India, BJP is swiftly moving to bring actor Chiranjeevi into the party fold and boost its sagging morale. Today’s meeting with Somu Veerraju assumes significance in this backdrop. It remains to be seen if Pawan Kalyan would continue to sail with BJP in case Chiranjeevi decides to join because politics is a game of identity and crisis is never too far. It is emerging that a major caste alignment is a work in progress at the moment. Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan will keep a close watch since a sizeable Kapu population vote for the two parties they represent.