Telangana polls: Congress shuns BC leaders, eyes 'Reddy wave' for returning to power

Former PCC president and former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah has resigned from the Telangana Congress. The Backward Caste (BC) leader was upset with the party for reportedly finalising the name of a Reddy candidate from Jangaon constituency which he represented many times.

According to Congress sources, the list of candidates for the November elections will have more shocks for BC candidates. BCs expect to get 34 seats out of 119 at the rate of two seats from each Lok Sabha constituency. There are 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana. It is now clear that this is unlikely to happen.

Grapevine has that the party has chosen to accommodate more Reddys on the pretext of greater winning chances. As dissident BC leaders are expected to create a raucous against this during Rahul Gandhi’s visit next week, the release of the list of candidates is said to have been put on hold.

Party sources indicated that the Congress list may not be different from that of BRS with a few more Reddys, said an insider. “Reddys are expected to get the largest chunk with 45 to 50 tickets. And BCs may not get more than 25. Among others, Velamas will get three or four seats, Kammas two seats and Brahmins one or two,” he said.

Reddy domination

Congress BC leaders have been suspecting foul play in the distribution of tickets to BC communities. A delegation of senior leaders went to Delhi for an assurance last week. A protest was staged to highlight their demand in front of the party office, Gandhi Bhavan, in Hyderabad. Still, BC leaders are not sure of justice.

Giving top priority to the minuscule Reddy caste, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced the names of 41 Reddys as candidates while the share of BCs, who constitute more than 50 percent, was just 24 out of 119 seats in the Assembly.

A prominent BC caste, Mudiraju, was completely denied representation by the BRS. Mudirajus have upped the ante against the BRS. Having seen the displeasure among Mudirajus, everybody thought that Congress would give more representation to BCs.

To pacify the grumblers, AICC Telangana in-charge Muralidharan announced that BCs would get representation at the rate of two Assembly seats per Lok Sabha constituency -- which works out to 34 seats. Party sources indicated that many senior BC leaders who were expecting tickets are set to be disappointed like Ponnala.

The ill-treatment meted out to Mudirajus by BRS has not created any unrest among the BCs. It was only the Mudiraju community that organised rallies and vowed to teach a lesson to BRS. Nothing beyond this has happened. BCs as a political community, even within the BRS, could not lend solidarity to fellow caste members.

Revanth emulates YSR

The Congress’ desperation to win the Telangana election seems to have given a free hand to PCC president Revanth Reddy in the selection of candidates. It is reminiscent of Sonia Gandhi's approach in 2004 for Andhra Pradesh when she chose YS Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR) to revive the Congress that was trounced by the Telugu Desam Party twice -- in 1994 and 1999. YSR chose Reddy candidates and succeeded in bringing the GOP back to power, reviving what sociologists used to call ‘Reddy Raj’.

Though the alliance with TRS (now BRS) and the Left did contribute to the defeat of TDP, it was reportedly the muscle and money power of Reddys that played a key role in the victory. Out of the 185 seats Congress won in 2004, as many as 67 were Reddys.

Revanth, who is as aggressive and articulate as YSR, seems to be emulating YSR in filling the Congress list with Reddys and loyalists as candidates. His open call to Reddys to come to power by supporting the Congress is expected to be reflected in the party list. He is equating the Congress government with ‘Reddy Raj’ which sounds more sonorous to Reddys than YS Sharimila’s Rajanna Rajyam.

“Historically the Congress depended for survival in united Andhra Pradesh on Reddy leadership. At a point in time when they became a source of annoyance, Indira Gandhi tried to replace Reddys with non-Reddys. Her experiment failed. Reddys bounced back. Their domination continued during Sonia’s time as well. They seem to be making another attempt to stage a comeback in Telangana now,” said noted political scientist Prof Karli Srinivasulu of ICSSR, New Delhi.

This galvanisation of Reddys is happening despite Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that there are only three OBC secretaries at the Centre and that Congress would support a caste census.

Sidelining BCs

“The Congress has been out of power for 10 years in Telangana. So, now winnability is the sole criterion. Winning the election is our top priority. The Congress is committed to the welfare of BC communities. To prove this, we need to come to power,” a senior vice president of the Telangana Congress told The Federal.

The leadership of all major parties are disinclined to give seats to BCs beyond a point because in their view BCs are the main beneficiaries of welfare schemes, said Dasu Naresh, an independent BC activist from Warangal.

“When we are taking care of your interests, why should you need to contest elections, seems to be the attitude of major political parties. Their argument is based on the number of BC beneficiaries in welfare schemes ranging from Rythu Bandhu to the distribution of sheep. The absence of an independent BC movement in the state is the reason for this arrogance. And party-affiliated BC leaders have failed to raise voices against this approach,” Dasu said.

Incidentally, BCs are on top among the owners of agricultural land, making them the largest group that benefited from Chief Minister KCR’s flagship welfare program Rythu Bandhu. According to Rythu Swarajya Vedika, an NGO, which conducted a survey on landownership in Telangana, 44 per cent of the agricultural land is owned by BCs followed by upper castes (43 per cent).

“When BCs are cornering so many benefits, how do you expect BRS and Congress to allocate more seats for these communities? The Congress and BRS are on the same page over the allocation of seats to BCs,” Dasu said.

The Congress list will be an attempt to please Reddys rather than the Backward Castes like the BRS, admitted a party leader.