After former minister Mudragada Padmanabham started tirade against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, accusing him of not honouring his own poll promise on Kapu reservations in education and employment, the Telugu Desam Party seems to be strategically encouraging numerically potential Balilja community drifts away from his fold.
As a result, a section of Balijas in Rayalaseema region broke away from the fold of Mudragada Padmanabham and floated an outfit Balija United Front (BUF) in December last. The front leaders are going round the Balija-populated areas in Rayalaseema and Nellore districts to build an organizational structure with the involvement of local leaders.
Accusing that Kapus are getting all advantageous, pushing them to a corner, O V Ramana, convener of the BUF said social justice will continue to elude Balijas as long as they sail with Kapus, a predominant caste in the coastal districts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur.
The dwindling share of Balijas in distribution of political power appears to be leading to growing discontent in the community. The community comprises 14-17 per cent in the four Rayalaseema districts, besides Nellore and parts of Prakasam districts after the State division.
But the number of seats in Parliament and the Assembly represented by Balijas fell to 2 from eight over a period of three decades. There are only two MLAs –Tirupati and Chittoor—from the community in the whole Rayalaseema region. Since decades Rajampet Lok Sabha seat was held by Balija stalwarts like Ratna Sabapathi, Palakonda Rayudu and Sai Pratap. But it is now slipped into the control of the dominant Reddys.
In the last elections while BJP with the support of TDP had `imported’ Daggubati Purandhareswari, a leader from the Kamma community from the coastal Andhra region, YSRCP had fielded a Reddy candidate, who had won ultimately. According to Ramana, Balijas are in influential number in as many as 76 assembly constituencies, but having only two MLAs.
