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Three days after denouncing Telangana politicians for referring to him as an ‘Andhrodu’ (a man hailing from Andhra), Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Friday, June 5, said that he found the ‘excessive regionalism’ of southern states ‘alarming’. His statement was also made in the broader context of southern states accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Union government of infringing on the rights of southern India.
Pawan, whose Jana Sena Party is a member of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), also remarked that ‘anything in excess can create problems.’ His comments were part of an interview given to CNN-News 18. While announcing on June 2 at his Hyderabad residence that JSP would contest in Telangana polls going forward, Pawan had likened regionalism (prantiyavadam), as that displayed in Telangana, to terrorism (ugravadam).
“This includes issues like casteism because people feel in the name of casteism they can disrupt roads. This happened in East Godavari district as well,” he said. While the Deputy CM did not clarify the particular instance in East Godavari, the most recent instances of caste based protests in the state are those led by Kapu groups, demanding reservation by blocking highways in Tuni town of the district. In May 2022, Kapu groups protested against the naming of Konaseema district to ‘BR Ambedkar Konaseema’.
Pawan Kalyan is the most influential Kapu face in Andhra politics and had in fact supported the groups when they protested for reservation.
“If you place too much emphasis on regional identity without taking casteism into consideration, that is alarming. People migrate. The entire humanity migrates for jobs and the emphasis on regional identity renders them vulnerable,” he added.
When asked if southern parties were becoming parochial, Pawan said they had.
The Andhra Deputy CM also spoke on the three language formula and delimitation.
“The DMK is probably insecure because of the three language policy and they view it as a cultural invasion. I don’t. The more I explore English, the deeper I go into my Vedas. The more I read Max Mueller, I go back to my Indic roots,” he said. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu has historically opposed the three-language formula because it views the policy as a disguised attempt to enforce Hindi and undermine the cultural autonomy of non-Hindi speaking states.
When asked about delimitation however, Pawan conceded that the south Indian states had a point.
“There is some rationality in what they are saying. South India adopted family planning in the early 70s and North India didn’t. So the concerns that it could be unjust are understandable. However, Union Home minister Amit Shah has said that delimitation will not affect states with lesser population and said he is willing to give it writing,” Pawan added.
