Telangana: Congress in revival mode, may upstage TRS

Telangana could well be welcoming a new Chief Minister when the results of Assembly elections held on December 7 are declared on December 11.

The situation on the ground points to a Congress revival, with the party in with a chance to dislodge the first Chief Minister of the new state, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). As the lead partner in the grand alliance stitched together few weeks before the general elections, the Congress is favoured to lead the government if the party wins.

The Congress even has a chance to form the government. However, at this stage what can be said definitively is that that the December 7 polls are no cakewalk for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), as was being considered even a few weeks ago.

This has been made possible due to the strategic, even if somewhat radical, tie-up the Congress has entered into with its sworn enemy, Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Smaller forces have been roped in to form the grand alliance (Maha Kootami). This, analysts feel, has managed to tap into the anger against the government. This has helped alter the situation on the ground.

Prof C Ramachandraiah of Centre for Economic and Social Studies thinks there is a 50:50 chance of a Congress victory. “Much will depend on how much the Maha Kootami shows itself as a united and cohesive force. It can cash in on the anti-establishment vote,” he said . “The ruling TRS does not appear to be as confident as before. For sure, the ruling party is feeling the heat. Few MLAs were not allowed to enter few villages recently. This is not something that a ruling party seeking re-election would be proud of,” he added.

Over 40 per cent of the state’s 2.73 crore electorate can be categorised as youth (between 18 and 40 years) and this is the group that is downright angry with KCR and his government. The student community was the most significant group in the pro-Telangana movement. There was a lot of hope and belief in KCR and his promises. But now, this is the group of voters that is very angry and has sworn to teach him a lesson.

In Osmania University, the headquarters of the Telangana movement, the students have openly declared support to the Congress-led Maha Kootami. On Monday, Osmania University Joint Action Committee (OUJAC) declared its support for Maha Kootami. “The TRS government has only benefited the KCR family and not those people who fought for statehood movement,” said Warangal Ravi, OUJAC founder.

Another student leader, Hanumantha Raw, said that, “We have decided to work to defeat KCR.” Some 6,000 students of Osmania University have fanned out across all 119 constituencies and are going on a house-to-house campaign,” he said. “We are also running social media campaigns, with messages that connect with youth in the villages,” Raw said.

Representatives of different bodies of professionals – doctors, lawyers, activists, government servants, teachers – who all had fought for a separate state and supported KCR, are today opposed to him.

In the season of pre-poll surveys, most are predicting a close fight in Telangana with a couple of surveys giving the Congress-led alliance a slender majority. If the Congress-led grand alliance is banking on perceived anti-incumbency, KCR is hoping that his welfare schemes will do the trick for him.

His campaign, focussing on welfare schemes costing some ₹50,000 crore, will ensure its return, TRS hopes. Among them are Mission Kakatiya, Mission Bhagiratha, Kaleshwaram Project and Rythu Bandhu, aimed at addressing agrarian distress.

However, the Rythu Bandhu scheme, as per which a farmer gets ₹8000 per year per acre of land, has left many dissatisfied. First, the sum is so meagre that it helps no farming activities. Secondly, the scheme only helped big landed gentry, with some big farmers getting doles worth lakhs of Rupees.