Pawan Kalyan is now a national sensation. In the state of Andhra Pradesh in particular, he is one of the three major political figures alongside Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. Considering this, one may assume that this actor-turned-politician’s career has been a walk in the park since inception. But in reality, it has been a roller coaster ride that witnessed extreme lows and highs.

Kalyan’s journey in politics began with Praja Rajyam Party, a newly-formed party founded by his elder brother Chiranjeevi. Despite not contesting in elections, he, as the president of Yuva Rajyam (the party’s youth wing), has actively campaigned for the party across the length and breadth of Andhra Pradesh (then united).

His political career witnessed a three-year-long pause in 2011, when Chiranjeevi had decided to merge PRP with the Congress Party. Multiple reports claimed that Kalyan was extremely disappointed with this move. On 14th March, 2014, Kalyan founded Jana Sena Party (JSP); he also co-authored Ism, a book that outlines the party’s ideology. As a surprising move, he chose to not contest in the 2014 Andhra Pradesh (separated from Telangana) assembly elections. Instead, he campaigned for the TDP-BJP alliance extensively. And the result turned in his favor. The alliance enjoyed a good victory, in which Kalyan played a crucial role.

From then, he began taking part in multiple social service activities, which included bringing the Uddanam kidney disease crisis to the media’s attention, opposing the central government’s move to privatize the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), and exposing unchecked mining in the Prathipadu village’s reserve forest area. Kalyan faced a huge setback in the 2019 general elections when he lost from both the constituencies he contested from: Gajuwaka & Bhimavaram. With a vote share of 6%, JSP ended up with just one seat (Razole) while contesting in 140 constituencies.

Following this humiliating defeat, he went on to focus on issues ranging from farmer welfare, illegal sand mining, women’s safety, and land encroachment. In the 2024 general elections, he played a key role in forging an alliance between JSP, TDP, and BJP. While the alliance witnessed a landslide victory, JSP was able to win 21 MLA seats and 2 MP seats. While the numbers may seem unimpressive, it must be noted that the party’s win percentage was a staggering 100.

Kalyan enjoyed a thumping victory from the Pitapuram constituency and has been elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. In June, 2024, he was announced as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Besides this, he’s also serving as the Minister of Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, Water Supply, Environment, Forests, Science & Technology.