Will the Pawan Kalyan episode lead to new political alignment in Andhra Pradesh? Will this incident quicken Pawan Kalyan’s estrangement with the BJP and bring it closer to the Telugu Desam Party? What does BJP’s total silence and the TDP’s support to Pawan Kalyan indicate?

Pawan Kalyan’s hot comments on the way YS Jagan Government was harassing the film industry is now the talk of the town. More importantly, the way AP Minister Perni Nani and actor Posani Krishna Murali reacted has made matters worse. Posani has crossed all limits of decency when he attacked the womenfolk in Pawan’s family. Posani’s comments were not just deplorable but downright condemnable.

But where is BJP in all this? Why has it not condemned the attacks on Pawan Kalyan? Why is there a strange silence on the part of the BJP? Despite coming from the same social group as that of Pawan Kalyan, neither Somu Virraju nor Kanna Lakshminarayana came to Pawan’s defence. Not a single statement was issued. At the same time, the TDP enthusiastically backed Pawan Kalyan. TDP women wing’s chief Vangalapudi Anitha offered a spirited defence. She strongly condemned the abusive language used against the women from Pawan’s family. She wanted action against Posani. Similarly, Vizag MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy too came to the defence of Pawan Kalyan.

Sources say this could well be the start of a new political alignment in AP. The BJP-Jana Sena relation could develop strains and the Jana Sena may be forced to go closer to the TDP, which has enthusiastically backed Pawan Kalyan. It is another matter that the whole of the film industry has largely dissociated itself from Pawan Kalyan’s comments.