Chandrababu Naidu’s RSS shift and the Kochi Biennale controversy | South Central Episode 57

Hosts discuss recent political developments in Andhra Pradesh, including CM Chandrababu Naidu’s growing affiliation with the BJP. They also look at the controversy at the Kochi Biennale, where a painting by artist Tom Vattakuzhy, titled ‘Supper at Nunnery’ was withdrawn due to pressure from Christian groups.

Published on:

09 Jan 2026, 2:59 pm

In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Pooja Prasanna first discuss the recent political developments in Andhra Pradesh, including CM Chandrababu Naidu’s growing affiliation with the BJP. They are joined by Professor K Nageshwar, a politician, academic, and political analyst.

Dhanya starts the discussion by recalling how CM Chandrababu Naidu has been switching his affiliation towards Hindutva by praising Hindu epics and promoting popular culture rooted in Hindu Myths.

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“I do not equate Hinduism with Hindutva. Spiritual Hinduism is absolutely fine, but political Hinduism or Hindutva is a problem. In Andhra, the TDP’s conscious followers fear that Naidu’s endorsement of Hindutva may benefit the BJP and not the TDP. Naidu’s frantic bid to show himself a close ally of Modi is paving the way for the BJP to grow, not the TDP. To reap political mileage against Jaganmohan Reddy, Naidu, who is a practising Christian, is also playing into controversies like the Thitupati laddu row,” says Professor Nageshwar.

Pooja asks if Naidu is competing with communalism in some way, and Professor Nageshwar says that both Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are competing with the BJP.

“BJP is not a powerful player in Andhra, and Jaganmohan Reddy being a Christian, makes Naidu and Kalyan think they can garner the Hindutva political space. That is the political objective; they are not really communal, but cleverly trying to capitalise on the Hindutva space and emotion, which is now gaining large momentum across the country. How far this will yield dividends will have to be seen,” adds Professor Nageshwar.

Dhanya says that Pawan Kalyan’s recent comments blaming other religions for attacking Hinduism may be paving the way to communalism. “Can Naidu not see that though there is no current threat from the BJP, it will come for his son Nara Lokesh?” she asks.

“In AP, religious identity is subservient to linguistic identity. The Dalits are also mostly Christians. So not just Naidu and Kalyan, even others cannot jeopardise other religious communities. Further, Naidu may be seasoned, but even such politicians make errors of judgment. He has earlier tried to ally with the Congress, pushing aside the BJP, for example. About Lokesh, the stipulation is that if Lokesh has to face Pawan Kalyan or Jaganmohan, the BJP may bring in someone like Junior NTR to shield Lokesh. The RSS also finds Lokesh more yielding to their ideology, unlike Naidu, who has the baggage of his secular political ideology. However, Naidu’s strategy looks like it is short-term, not a vision that goes beyond say, 10 or 15 years,” says Professor Nageshwar.

Dhanya points out that Kerala CM Pinarayi and the CPM’s affinity with Vellapalli Nadeshan, who makes many anti-secular comments, has cost the Left in local body elections. “So it is important to watch who you associate with,” she says.

Pooja says that the political competition could be stronger between Naidu and Nithish Kumar. She asks how the communities have reacted to Naidu’s new avatar.

“We have seen how the Dravidian movement has succumbed to the BJP. So the Kamma community’s issue is not really an anomaly. Across the country, the so-called secular parties do not fully grasp the consequences of aligning with the BJP. Look at the TDP, or the Janata Party, or Mamta Banerjee, Shiv Sena, Naveen Pattnaik, JDS or anyone for that matter– they have all been facing political erosion and humiliation by the BJP itself. Still, they do not seem to learn and focus on immediate political gains, resulting in disasters,” Professor Nageshwar says.

Dhanya asks what the political strategy is behind Naidu othering his ministers in public. Professor Nageshwar says that in the Andhra Jyothi newspaper, which is allegedly pro-TDP and anti-Jagan, you will find several stories accusing ministers, MLAs and public servants of corruption and non-functioning.

“Naidu publicly chiding ministers and others is to project that only he, Lokesh, and Pawan Kalyan, to some extent, are working, and nobody else. This is an intelligent move to postulate himself as efficient, insulating himself and Lokesh from anti-incumbency sentiments,” he adds.

Further, the panel also delves into the finances of the state, Jaganmohan Reddy’s political footing, and more.

In the second part of the discussion, the hosts delve into the controversy at the Kochi Biennale, where a painting by artist Tom Vattakuzhy, titled ‘Supper at Nunnery’ was withdrawn due to pressure from Christian groups. The hosts also discuss resistance to art in general, and are joined by Kavitha Balakrishnan, an art history lecturer, poet, curator and author.

Dhanya recalls how the exhibit was withdrawn at the Biennale in Kerala. The painting was in controversy earlier also, when it was published in the magazine Bhashaposhani. It is said to be an adaptation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper, wherein, the disciples are replaced by nuns and Jesus by a naked Mata Hari, who was a German spy during the time of the first World War.

Kavitha says that basically, the issue is about art as a modern cultural entity.

“There should be some education, which trains us to look at art in a comprehensive manner. This illiteracy ruins the legacy of art. This particular painting by Tom, for example, was not an adaptation of Da Vinci’s Last Supper at all. It was an illustration to the play published by Bhashaposhani, which dealt with a feminist perspective of looking at the female body. The humanism we have learnt so far, is a hypocrite position, which is where all these conflicts with art emerge from. When a woman comes into focus as the subject, then our patriarchal imagination is further agitated. Tom uses a constant character–light–in all his paintings. The paintings are a different form of realism, they are not literal swapping of Christ with Mata Hari. Even if Christ is shown as a woman, what is the problem?” she says.

Dhanya asks why the artists at the Biennale were not able to convince authorities about the artistic quality of the painting and resist its withdrawal. Kavitha says that is the result of institutionalising art. She also adds that she is not advocating for the gatekeeping of art, which has colonial import.

Pooja says that the Kochi Biennale, which is supposed to be more subversive, is where this is happening. “Even in early history, the Khajuraho sculptures were ordered to be buried under cement. It took Tagore and others to speak about the artistic significance of the sculptures. Several books, and art, were banned in India, even by colonial governments citing immorality. It is quite ingrained in our culture to look at everything from the religious prism and get offended,” she adds.

Dhanya asks if intolerance is growing against art, considering the more recent withdrawal of books and art on the insistence of religious groups.

“I think we are scared of controversies. I think we need to have dialogues with people who innocently practice religion, not the fundamentalists. In Kerala, cultural programmes like poorams and temple festivals and church festivals have co-existed. Ordinary people have always been tolerant of these avenues as well. The artists who have been in controversy have not intended to offend anyone, it is the religious gaze on their works that makes them appear offensive,” Kavitha says.

All this and more.

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Audio Timecodes

00:00:00- Introduction

00:02:05 - Headlines

00:10:10 - Andhra Politics

00:52:05 - Kochi Biennale Row

01:15:39- Recommendations

References

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