In Andhra Pradesh politics, leaders who rose to power from specific professional backgrounds often ended up targeting the very fields they came from — appearing more punitive than reformative.
The most recent case is Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, but it’s part of a broader, repeating trend. Before discussing about him let us delve into the past.
NTR and the Film Industry:
As a seasoned actor, director, and exhibitor, NTR knew the ins and outs in the movie business. Upon becoming CM, he implemented the slab system, mandating tax on all theater seats regardless of actual sales.
This sudden move devastated theater owners, forcing them to shrink capacity to reduce tax burdens. His actions fundamentally altered the economics of cinema halls. Many felt NTR is showing antipathy on exhibitors.
While director Dasari Narayana Rao opposed it, the system remained until a later Congress regime removed it.
Gali Muddu Krishnama Naidu and Education:
A former lecturer himself, Gali Muddu Krishnama, as Education Minister, cracked down on private tuitions and barred lecturers from engaging in coaching outside college.
His swift and strict regulations shocked the academic community, sparking unrest in the sector he once belonged to.
Many at the time said that Muddu Krishnama, as a lecturer, was always jealous of elite lecturers who were earning extra income through tuitions.
Pawan Kalyan and Tollywood:
Pawan turned aggressive when distributors and exhibitors began protesting the percentage-sharing system before the release of his own film, Hari Hara Veera Mallu.
He launched a crackdown — threatening inspections, exposing tax evasions, overpriced canteens, and poor facilities.
He barred non-union industry elites from dealing with the government and opened floodgates to bureaucratic oversight.
The point to be underlined is that he is doing all this exactly at the time of his film's release.
The Pattern: Jealousy in Disguise
It appears that these leaders, instead of showing empathy or reforming their native sectors with understanding, targeted them harshly — perhaps driven by a subconscious jealousy or a desire to prove they had "risen above" their roots.
Rather than uplift the systems they knew best, they seemed to punish them — turning their familiarity into a tool for control, not correction.
Usha Chowdhary
