Telangana elections: Hits and misses of Congress's 6 guarantees

Only months after it swept to power in neighbouring Karnataka, the Congress believes it can pull off a victory in Telangana too on the strength of guarantees it is giving to the electorate. Most experts and critics are not so sure.

Giving primacy to four sections, party leader Sonia Gandhi on September 17 announced six assurances — Mahalakshmi (women's welfare), Rythu Bharosa (farmer and labour welfare), Gruhajyothi (free power to every household), Indiramma Indlu (free housing), Yuva Vikasam (education and job recruitment) and Cheyutha (old age pension).

The party has drawn inspiration from the Karnataka experience, where its five assurances to the voters helped it end five years of BJP rule in May. While promises such as free travel for women in state-run buses and domestic free power are borrowed from Karnataka, the rest of the schemes are improvised versions of schemes existing in the state.

Congress leaders in Telangana say their winning formula for upcoming Assembly elections covers the four important sections: women, tenant farmers, farm workers and unemployed youth. These four segments constitute roughly two-thirds of the total electorate and will give the Congress a definite edge over the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), they add.

They consider this the Congress attempt to reposition itself as the representative of vast neglected sections in a state which came into being due to its efforts, but it never got to rule. The party hopes to woo the women folk, who are roughly 50 per cent of the total voters, by extending free travel in state-run buses along with an assistance of Rs 2,500 per month.

Congress promises

The Congress has assured Rs 15,000 per acre per year to tenant farmers. According to an NGO, there are about 22 lakh tenant farmers in Telangana. Though they are the real cultivators, the BRS government has refused to recognise them as farmers. As a result, they are not eligible for Rs 10,000 per acre input capital under the Rythu Bandhu scheme. The Congress assurance is seen as a masterstroke to lure them into its fold.

Similarly, the party has announced a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal to rice cultivators. In addition, the Congress promised 12,000 per year to agricultural labourers with MGNREGS cards.

All these make the Congress look farmer-friendly. It is this image that helped the party to stage a dramatic comeback in 2004 in united Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of the now late YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

The Congress also wants to lure the unemployed youth who are at loggerheads with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's government for not filling nearly two lakh vacancies in the government over a decade. To pacify them, KCR had promised an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,016 before the 2018 Assembly election but ignored it later. Now, the Congress has promised to fill up all vacancies within a year along with financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to students to pursue their education.

Criticism galore

“It's our winning formula,” gloats Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhatti Vikramarkha Mallu, who dresses like YSR.

Congress critics, however, consider the package a brazen attempt to fool the voters with freebies, whose cost goes beyond the size of the state’s annual budget of Rs 2.78 crore. They peg the implementing cost of the various promises at Rs 2.7 lakh-crore a year.

Bhatti rubbished the calculation. He said the Congress government would initiate the process of implementing the schemes within 100 days of coming to power. “There is no need to reveal our (budgeting) strategy,” he told The Federal.

Karnataka factor

Veteran journalist K Srinivasulu says attributing Karnataka's success entirely to the five assurances makes you ignore other factors at play. “In Karnataka, (then) Chief Minister (SR) Bommai’s government was mired in corruption. Communal hatred made the BJP unpopular and social life tense. Against this backdrop, the Congress made a successful attempt to inspire Kannada sub-nationalism against what it perceived as North dominance. Such a turmoil is absent in Telangana. And the Congress should not lose sight of the tall stature of KCR in Telangana,” he said

But Srinivas admitted that the Congress assurances have the potential to attract farmers and women. “These will transform into votes only when the Congress convinces the people that the schemes are executable.”

The leader of NGO Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Kanneganti Ravi, welcomed the decision to extend financial assistance to tenant farmers and asked the Congress to ensure that the benefit goes to real cultivators. “It’s a long-pending demand. Though inadequate, Rs 12,000 assistance to farm laborers is also welcome.”

On the other hand, Ashok Tankasala, the government’s advisor on interstate affairs, said the assurances are unfeasible and a vote-catching exercise. “Take the scheme of Rs 2,500 per woman. There are about 2 crore women in the state. The scheme alone requires Rs 60,000 crore per year. What about other women's welfare schemes like free travel and Rs 500-LPG cylinder? Where is the money?” he wrote in BRS mouthpiece Namaste Telangana.

Unfazed Congress

According to analyst Dr Pentapati Pullarao, emulating Karnataka with sheer competitive populism won't do good for the Congress in Telangana. “If KCR gives Rs 10,000, we will give 15,000; if he gives Rs 2,000, we will enhance this to Rs 4,000. So, you are offering more of the same. Not the schemes,” he said. “The bad governance of Chief Minister Bommai was mainly responsible for the Congress victory in Karnataka.”

BJP leader DK Arun said all the assurances were empty promises. “It has thrown even common sense to the winds.”

BRS spokesperson Prof Sravan Dasoju said the Congress was trying to fool people as it has nothing new to offer. “For the implementation of the 5 assurances the party needs more than 2.7 lakh crore. What will happen if you add the cost of the implementation of Dalit, SC, ST and BC declarations? The Congress wants to confuse the people,” he said.

The Congress is not bothered by the criticism. Already, it has begun distributing Guarantee Cards signed by PCC president A Revanth Reddy and Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka to every voter in the state. As far as the Congress is concerned, if it can win in Karnataka, it can grab Telangana too.