ANdhra Pradesh, Telangana caste politics
The influence of castes in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh politics is being seen like never before. It won’t be surprising if the upcoming elections will be completely based on caste equations.
Andhra Pradesh politics are dominated by two social groups Reddy and Kammas. Both the Congress(YSRCP) and the Telugu Desam have been fighting for the supremacy, while the rest of the castes favor the parties based on time and necessity.
These internal caste politics have become unrestricted and is no longer insider strategy. TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy openly questioned as to what would Jagan Mohan Reddy do for the welfare of Reddy community? Furthermore, he asked the members of Reddy caste to not trust Jagan.
Support of the Kapu Caste in Andhra Pradesh has been a decisive factor in elections. Kapus defacto is Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan even if he concurs with it or not. Moreover, there is Mudragada Padmanabam who ensures to remind them of the unfulfilled promises by the TDP government.
Kancha Ilaiah’s book has created ripples in Arya Vysya community whose leaders like TDP MP T.G.Venkatesh have been directly speaking about their caste. The otherwise unruffled Vysya community started remonstrating against the government for neglecting their caste. Their unity will certainly influence the upcoming elections.
I Y R Krishna Rao moving out of the Brahmin Corporation has been portrayed as an insult to their caste. He has publicly voiced as to how the government is depriving the corporation of funds.
Mandha Krishna Madiga has been creating ripples with his Kurukshetra Sabha. Moreover, the social boycott of Dalits in Garagaparru incident will remain as a black mark.
The two big parties are continuously fueling the fire, instead of putting a hard stop.
On the other hand, caste politics in Telangana is relatively less compared to its counterpart, which was publicly acknowledged by Chief Minister himself. However, the land of armed struggle and uprisings has seen sudden surge in caste politics in the recent past.
The ruling party itself is involved in the uniting Kamma and Velma communities, against the Reddys’ including Professor Kodandaram. Merely to counter the Reddy community, the ruling party itself is accused of bringing the caste factor in the newly formed state.
Senior Congress leader Jagga Reddy recently warned that if the ruling TRS tries to dominate using their caste, his community will unite and show their power. With Congress trying to attract Revanth Reddy, second general elections in Telangana will inevitable be based on caste politics.
In the backdrop of this, the prospect of the Telugu speaking states becoming the venue for caste based politics in upcoming elections is vivid. Politicians who should take only the progressive and development path against caste and religion politics are unfortunately using these tactics for their temporary benefit. It is time to put an end to fights and rhetoric in the name of castes.
