Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and Anna Konidala Announce Separation After 13 Years of Marriage

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and actor Pawan Kalyan and his wife, Anna Konidala, have formally announced their decision to separate after 13 years together.

In a joint statement shared on Kalyan’s official social media, the couple revealed that the decision was taken with mutual respect and understanding. Emphasizing that they will remain good friends, the statement highlighted their joint commitment to their children.

“Though our marriage has come to an end, we remain good friends and devoted parents to our wonderful children. Their happiness and well-being will always remain our shared priority,” the statement noted. The couple also appealed to well-wishers and the public for privacy and understanding during this period of personal change, expressing gratitude to those who supported them over the years.

Background and Personal Life

The development brings an end to Kalyan’s third marriage. He was first married to Nandini in 1997, from whom he separated in 1999. In 2009, he married actor Renu Desai; the couple, who share a son and a daughter, divorced in 2012. Kalyan married Russian-origin Anna Lezhneva (Anna Konidala) in 2013. The two have two children together: daughter Polena Anjana Pawanova and son Mark Shankar Pawanovich.

Film and Political Trajectory

Kalyan, the younger brother of renowned actors Chiranjeevi and Nagendra Babu, entered the Telugu film industry in 1996 with Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi.

His political journey started in 2008 as the head of Yuvarajyam, the youth wing of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP). Following PRP’s merger with the Indian National Congress in 2011, Kalyan stepped back from politics before establishing the Jana Sena Party (JSP) in March 2014.

After JSP secured only a single seat during the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections—where Kalyan also contested and lost both seats—he engineered a major political turnaround. In the 2024 elections, Kalyan played an instrumental role in forging a tripartite alliance between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and JSP. The coalition secured a decisive victory, with JSP achieving a 100% strike rate across all seats it contested. Kalyan subsequently assumed office as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 14, 2024.