Decoding manifestos: Andhra political parties reconciled to 'two states'

Hyderabad: The fate of a dozen-odd court cases filed by enthusiasts, especially those belonging to different political outfits, seeking the quashing of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2013, hanging fire notwithstanding, parties have reconciled to the fact that Andhra Pradesh is two states now. All parties have issued two separate manifestos – one each for both states, Telangana and Seemandhra. They are now sure that there is no going back on the bifurcation issue. The lone feeble voice that still says that the state will remain united and hopes that the Supreme Court will certainly scuttle the bifurcation process is that of former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who quit his post and floated Jai Samaikyandhra party.[caption id=“attachment_1481529” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] Other parties, however, have vied with one another in sweeping the bifurcation issue under the carpet, but are holding the others responsible for the division during their campaigns in the Seemaandhra region. While the Telugu Desam Party has announced a special ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for each of the ‘Telangana martyrs’ families’ and a government job to one person from every bereaved family, the YSR Congress has not talked anything about the compensation. However, it proposes to come up with something during the proposed ‘Odarpu Yatra’ of YS Sharmila in Telangana region. For now, the YSR Congress is a non-serious player in Telangana, while the Congress has inadvertently walked into a trap it has laid in Seemaandhra. The TDP has been able to manage to register its presence with great alacrity in both regions. This stays on, at least, until the elections results are announced. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Congress have not lagged behind the TDP and the YSRC in doling out promises. The TRS too has announced a compensation akin to the one promised by the TDP to the ‘Telangana martyrs’. KCR added a dash of sentiment and rebellion to his manifesto, urging people to support his party to get Telangana completely rid of the ‘Andhra apartheid’. He also laid emphasis on the need to fight a few issues like common capital for Hyderabad for 10 years, retention of employment control in the hands of APPSC and national project status to Polavaram multipurpose irrigation project. Waiver of farm loans up to Rs 1 lakh, establishment of 10 greenfield power projects, national project status to Pranahita-Chevella and such other promises found place in the TRS manifesto. Without any exception, all parties have promised seven to nine-hour free electricity to farm sector. The TDP promised waiver of all farm loans and 24-hour power supply for domestic consumption in urban and rural areas. The TDP also promised the waiver of loans of DWCRA self-help groups, while the YSR Congress promised only this and asserted that the farm loans were in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore and could not be waived by anybody, stating that it was not practical. While KCR promised a 120 sq yards 2 BHK house for every poor family, YS Jagan promised 10 lakh houses every year. It was promises galore in every party’s manifesto. As MLC and professor of Journalism K Nageshwar pointed out in a discussion on a television channel, if the cover pages are removed, almost all manifestos would read the same as they are packed with similar promises. It is not known whether any of the parties have done their homework before promising the moon to people. The Congress, which boasts about creating the separate state of Telangana, has come up with its manifesto for Telangana, while the manifesto for Andhra Pradesh is yet to be announced. In fact, it is the first political party to create a separate Pradesh Congress Committee for the yet-to-be-formed state, dismantling the existing APCC. It kindled hopes among several Congress leaders about their ‘bright’ future in Telangana region. Living up to his brief, TPCC chief Ponnala Laxmaiah is at daggers with his bête noire KCR. Not a single day passes without the duo spewing venom at each other. The Telugu Desam has, after a lot of dodging and ducking, created a Telangana committee and distributed positions of equal power to at least five leaders. The YSR Congress, which has fielded candidates for 13 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats and 105 out of 119 Assembly seats in Telangana, hopes to register a token presence in the electoral fray in the region. Interestingly, YS Jagan has announced that his sister Sharmila will eventually nurse the party and retain control of Telangana unit of the YSR Congress. Coming to Seemaandhra region, building of new capital city is the cynosure of all eyes. Jagan has already let the people know through interviews that he has hired MNC Accenture to draw up plans for a new capital. Chandrababu Naidu is promising to build a city that would be a replica of Singapore and his experience as the chief minister will come in handy for him to realize this promise. The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress, however, doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to offering a stiff fight in any of the Seemandhra constituencies. Therefore, it has not come up with its manifesto as yet, though it has announced its contestants. All parties have announced their list of contestants from almost all Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in both states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. With battle lines being clearly drawn, the multi-cornered fights in many constituencies would set the tone for the post-poll struggle of parties in implementing their vows in mitigating the people’s woes. Can they really keep the proverbial wolf from the door?