Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan has built a reputation as the conscience of Andhra politics — a man who demands dignity in public discourse. So why are his own MLAs making headlines for the exact opposite?
There is a particular kind of political embarrassment that arrives not from your enemies, but from your own ranks — and for Jana Sena Party president and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, that embarrassment arrived on Sunday with the full force of a press conference microphone. Pantam Nanaji, the Jana Sena MLA from Kakinada Rural, stood before reporters and unleashed a torrent of crude, personal abuse directed at YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy — language so offensive that its Telugu content cannot be reproduced here in full. The timing could not have been worse. Just days earlier, Pawan Kalyan had publicly urged political leaders across party lines to maintain dignity in debate and confine their criticism to policy, not personality.
The incident has revived one of the more persistent questions in Andhra Pradesh politics: does Pawan Kalyan hold himself and his party to the same standard of conduct he expects of others — or does the moral lecturing apply only when the microphone belongs to the opposition?
“If any YSRCP leader had made the same remarks, police cases would already have been filed. But when it is one of ours, there is silence.” — YSRCP Spokesperson Karumuri Venkata Reddy
What Nanaji said — and why it matters
Speaking at a press conference, MLA Nanaji challenged Jagan Mohan Reddy to contest elections from Kakinada Rural constituency rather than his home base in Kadapa district. The challenge itself was unremarkable by the rough standards of Telugu political theatre. What followed was not. Nanaji used a Telugu phrase — “Naa kodaka… Evadiviraa… Dammunte Kakinada ku raa raa na kodaka…” — that senior leaders of both parties privately described as crossing a clear line of personal decorum. The remarks spread quickly on social media, drawing condemnation from YSRCP and also quiet discomfort within sections of the ruling coalition.
Context — Who is Pantam Nanaji? Pantam Nanaji represents the Kakinada Rural constituency in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, one of the seats that Jana Sena won in the 2024 elections that swept the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance to power. His remarks came unprompted during a press conference ostensibly called to discuss local political challenges.
A pattern, not an incident
This episode is unlikely to be treated as an isolated slip. Pawan Kalyan himself has a documented history of colourful rhetoric — he once warned political rivals he would “thokki nara teestha,” a vivid Telugu phrase threatening to skin opponents and trample them underfoot. That language sat uneasily alongside his subsequent calls for civilised political discourse, and critics have not forgotten it. The Nanaji episode adds a new chapter to a recurring theme: the gap between the values Jana Sena publicly espouses and the behaviour it permits within its own ranks.
The Timeline of Contradiction
Days before · June 2026 — Pawan Kalyan publicly advocates dignity in political debate, urges leaders to criticise policies — not people.
Earlier · 2025 — Pawan lashes out at YSRCP’s Gudivada Amarnath for making derogatory comments about Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha.
Sunday · June 22, 2026 — Jana Sena MLA Pantam Nanaji uses offensive personal language against Jagan Mohan Reddy at a press conference in Kakinada.
Sunday evening · June 22, 2026 — YSRCP spokesperson demands apology and withdrawal of remarks. Warns that women supporters will protest if the conduct continues.
Opposition strikes back
YSRCP spokesperson Karumuri Venkata Reddy wasted no time in pointing out the double standard. He demanded that Nanaji immediately withdraw his remarks and issue an apology, arguing that the MLA was not remotely in a position — politically or in terms of public standing — to address Jagan Mohan Reddy in such terms. He also warned that YSRCP supporters, particularly women, would take to the streets in protest if Jana Sena leaders continued in this vein. More pointedly, he recalled specific past instances when Pawan Kalyan had publicly called out other leaders for abusive language against Jana Sena workers — asking why the same standards did not appear to apply internally.
The question of selective accountability is a potent one in Andhra Pradesh politics. When Gudivada Amarnath made remarks about Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha that referenced her appearance, Pawan Kalyan personally condemned the comments. In that case, a police complaint followed quickly. Whether Nanaji will face any comparable consequences — formal or informal — will be watched closely as a test of whether Jana Sena’s stated values translate into consistent enforcement.
The Bottom Line
Andhra Pradesh has seen its share of abusive political rhetoric across every party line. What makes this episode unusually pointed is its timing — within days of Pawan Kalyan delivering a public sermon on decency — and the silence from party leadership that has followed. In politics, the sermons you give are only as credible as the standards you enforce. On that test, Jana Sena’s leadership currently has some explaining to do.
