The people are vexed with the listless politics of the three mainstream parties based on mere sound and fury
Aam Admi Party (AAP) has a window of opportunity in Telangana. Though there are three major parties at present in Telangana vying for attention, the people are not enthused with any of them. AAP will be a fresh breeze which will be welcomed by principled politicians and workers. People in general are passive spectators of the listless politics based on sound and fury.
For instance, Revanath Reddy, president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), alleges that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has secret understanding with Narendra Modi in spite of the ballistic way KCR has been bombarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, at least till March 10 when results of five assembly elections were announced. Bandi Sanjay, president of Telangana BJP, says TRS and the Congress are in league. KCR attacks the BJP leaders in State and at the centre and ignores the Congress leaders. That is his way of saying that the Congress is not a party in serious contest and the fight is going to be between TRS and the BJP. Name-calling and hurling abuses have become the norm of political discourse in the State. The game of one-upmanship has been going on without real problems being discussed or sorted out. Sanjay says KCR will go to jail on corruption charges. Revanth Reddy asks Sanjay what is preventing the latter from asking the CBI to investigate the charges of corruption against KCR. Revanth Reddy himself was caught on camera offering currency notes to a TRS MLA for voting in favour of a TDP candidate in MLC elections. The widely publicized ‘vote for note case,’ in which Revanth is accused number one, is pending in the court.
Senior leaders who have been with the party all their life detest Revanth Reddy, who defected from TDP, being made the chief of the party. Revanth, on the other hand, is young and dynamic in his own way. He has been assiduously cultivating the senior leaders over the months after taking over the reins of the party. The BJP is mostly Hyderabad centric. The party won by-elections in Dubbaka in 2020 and Huzurabad in 2021 owing to the personal image of its candidates - Raghunandan Rao and Etala Rajendra - respectively aided by failure of the Congress. In Nagarjuna Sagar by-election in 2021 a tall leader of the Congress party Jana Reddy was defeated by Bharat, young son of Nomula Narasimhaiah whose death caused the by-poll. In Huzurabad, the Congress candidate lost his deposit.
The Congress’ track record of the past two years shows its leader indulge in rhetoric without performing. But the party commands more than 20 percent of votes in Telangana even today. With less percentage of votes, the BJP gives the impression that it is the main rival to the TRS. It is because of intensive political activity taken up by the saffron party which has committed cadres and unstinted support of the national leadership. The BJP also has factions but the writ of the central leadership runs unlike in the Congress whose high command does not look at the State leaving everything to Manikkam Tagore, an MP from Tamil Nadu and AICC General Secretary, in charge of Congress affairs in Telangana.
While the TRS has recently appointed presidents of district units and geared up the party machinery, it has groups and infighting. KCR is a very strong leader who does not brook indiscipline. Money has become central to politics. TRS has unlimited resources. BJP can get funds form Delhi. The Congress high command appointed Revanth Reddy as president of TPCC because he can mobilize funds.
The intellectuals and professionals who fought for Telangana State were left high and dry by KCR who had encouraged defections from the Congress and the TDP after 2014 and 2018 elections and accommodated in his cabinet even those who vehemently opposed statehood movement. People who have left background, cannot think of joining the BJP, have no respect for Congress, who believe in rule of law and value-based politics are waiting for a new party to arrive. The YSRTP launched by YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s daughter Sharmila Reddy has not found acceptance yet since she is basically considered a person from Andhra Pradesh.
It is here that AAP is being mentioned in private discussions. Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts have some 30 Assembly constituencies where AAP stands a good chance. People who are fed up with corrupt, deceitful and boastful politicians appear as though they are looking for principled and creative politics.
(The writer is a senior journalist and Editor, primepost, a news website based out of Hyderabad. The views expressed are personal.)