Pawan Kalyan and wife Anna Lezhneva to separate after 13 years of marriage

Pawan Kalyan, the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and his wife, Anna Lezhneva, have decided to end their 13-year marriage. The couple announced it in a joint statement late on the night of 9 November.

The statement was posted on Mr. Kalyan’s Instagram page, NDTV reported. It was also shared with reporters through the Jana Sena Party’s media group. The couple said they had made the decision with “mutual understanding and respect”.

What the statement says

The two said they were parting by mutual consent and would remain good friends. They said they would go on sharing their duties as parents to their two children. The children’s happiness and welfare would come first, they said.

They asked fans and well-wishers to respect their privacy, and thanked everyone who had stood by them. The statement gave no reason for the separation and said nothing about how the children would be looked after.

The court case

Hindustan Times reported that a divorce petition had been filed. Namasthe Telangana, citing Jana Sena Party sources, reported that the petition was in a family court and that the two had been talking about it for several months. Neither the couple nor the party has confirmed this on the record.

The background

Mr. Kalyan is a Telugu film actor who founded the Jana Sena Party in 2014. He became Deputy Chief Minister in June 2024, when the Telugu Desam Party-led alliance, of which Jana Sena is a part, took office.

He married Ms. Lezhneva in 2013. It was his third marriage, Namasthe Telangana reported. He married Nandini in 1997; they divorced in 2008. He then married the actor Renu Desai, and they divorced in 2012.

What’s next

No date for any court hearing has been made public.