Pawan Kalyan says he felt 'jealous' watching Vijay’s quick political rise in Tamil Nadu

Highlights:

• Pawan Kalyan admitted feeling “jealous” of Vijay’s success.
• He spoke about his 15-year political journey.
• Vijay’s TVK won 108 seats in Tamil Nadu.
• Kalyan said building a party was a “massive risk.”
• Janasena won all 21 seats it contested in 2024.

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Janasena Party leader Pawan Kalyan made candid remarks about his political journey during a public event on Monday. The actor-turned-politician admitted that he felt “jealous” after watching Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay achieve political success in a short period of time.

Addressing party workers, Kalyan compared the political situations in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. He said politics in Tamil Nadu appeared easier compared to the struggles he faced over the last 15 years.

"I look at Tamil politics these days; they've done it so carefree. I felt jealous. They won using cutouts and holograms happily," he said with a laugh.

He then spoke about the challenges he faced while building his Janasena Party over the years.

"I have been wandering the streets for fifteen years," he said.

Kalyan explained that managing a political party is not simple and requires bringing together large groups of people with different opinions and expectations.

"Managing a political party means uniting hundreds of thousands of people. We can't even get our own family members to agree on a single thing," he explained. "Starting a party and attempting to transform society was a massive risk."

The comments quickly drew attention because Vijay, like Pawan Kalyan, also entered politics after becoming a successful film actor.

Earlier this month, at an event in Amaravati, Kalyan had already said that the political systems of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are very different. He told party workers that his alliance-based political strategy was necessary in Andhra Pradesh, even if the process took more time.

Vijay launched his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), in 2024. In the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, TVK secured a major victory by winning 108 seats and emerging as the largest party in the state.

The victory ended the long-standing political dominance of the DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Vijay later became the Chief Minister of the state.

The rise of film stars in politics has a long history in South India. Several actors, including NT Rama Rao, MG Ramachandran, and J Jayalalithaa, successfully transitioned from cinema into politics and later became chief ministers.

Pawan Kalyan founded the Janasena Party in 2014. However, the party struggled during its early years. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Janasena won only one seat, and Kalyan himself lost in both constituencies he contested.

At the time, many questioned the future of the party and whether it could survive in Andhra Pradesh politics.

Despite the setbacks, Kalyan continued to strengthen his organization and remained active in politics. Over time, he formed alliances with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The alliance later became part of the TDP-BJP-JSP “Kutami” coalition during the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

The 2024 elections marked the biggest political success for Janasena. The party contested 21 Assembly seats and won all 21 constituencies, achieving a 100 percent strike rate.

Kalyan also secured his first Assembly election victory by winning from the Pithapuram constituency with a margin of more than 70,000 votes.

His latest comments reflected both admiration for Vijay’s rapid political rise and the long struggle he faced while building Janasena into a successful political force in Andhra Pradesh.