For the past few days, Jana Sena Party president and Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan is said to be maintaining a distance from his alliance partner, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
He has not been actively participating in official programmes and has been focusing more on his assembly constituency, Pithapuram.
Initially, he skipped a few cabinet meetings; although he attended a couple later, he did not show much interest in the decision-making process.
Sources close to the Jana Sena Party said that Pawan Kalyan is unhappy with the way the state government is handling certain matters, particularly regarding the awarding of contracts, allotment of lands to companies, and the transfer of officials.
While Pawan Kalyan continues to have faith in and respect for chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, he is reportedly displeased with some decisions being taken by Naidu’s son, IT minister Nara Lokesh, and other ministers like municipal administration minister P Narayana.
The deputy chief minister is said to be especially upset over controversial land allotments to companies such as Ursa Clusters.
He also suspects massive corruption in the awarding of contracts for large-scale constructions in Amaravati, allegedly at highly inflated costs.
Sources said the Jana Sena Party chief has been quietly gathering information about every controversial decision being made by Lokesh and his team.
"Perhaps, he is preparing to use this information at an appropriate time, should he decide to break away from the alliance and contest the next elections independently," a source said.
However, Pawan Kalyan is not blind to the corrupt practices within his own party, particularly in the north-coastal Andhra and East and West Godavari districts.
He is aware that raising issues of corruption against the TDP leadership would force him to also answer for the misdeeds of his own party leaders.
For now, therefore, he has little choice but to remain silent.
After all, no political leader is entirely untouched by corruption, and if Pawan Kalyan intends to take his political career seriously, he must learn to navigate and adjust to the realities of political life.