(Rayala)Seema prepares to sink the Congress

Macherla Diwakar, theindianrepublic, 11 March 2014: Was in Puttaparthi, the abode of the late Sri Sathya Sai Baba, last week, on the occasion of MahaShivarathri, courtesy of a friend. It reminded me of the Puttaparthi when Baba was alive. The crowds were back. The shops were doing brisk business, so did the hawkers in front of the gates of Sri Prasanthi Nilayam, Baba’s ashram. There was a huge overseas contingent too, most of them, to my surprise, from Russia.

Of course, I did not forget my calling, as I did my own political survey in this town, in Anantapur district, which is part of the Rayalaseema region. Andhra Pradesh is one state where the Congress has successfully diverted the attention from its failings. Here, the debate is confined to the creation of Telengana. Either you are for it, or against it, depending on the region you hail from.

An old friend, a die-hard supporter of Sonia Gandhi and her party, was a broken man. “Why did they do this?” he asked. “You are talking about it. That is the reason. Otherwise, you’ll talk about jobs, economy, development, etc,” I pointed out. “So, if they feel that they can get a big chunk of votes by giving away Kashmir to Pakistan, would they?” he queried. “Your guess is as good as mine,” I replied, diplomatically.

“I can understand why Sonia did it. She is a foreigner, but Rahul Gandhi was born and brought up here,” he wailed. I couldn’t suppress a laugh. Ten, twelve years ago, when the BJP had an issue with Ms. Gandhi’s foreign origin, this friend rooted for her. “It’s wrong, Sir, to doubt somebody’s patriotism merely because he/she was not born in India,” he had told me then.

I politely recalled what he had said ten years ago. “All she wants is Rahul to become the prime minister,” he said, grimly. Not possible, I told him, in the present circumstances. The dynasty is fighting for its survival.

Another friend, an upper-class senior citizen, was not so charitable. He heaped obscenities on the dynasty. He felt that Mr. Narendra Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, could alone save the nation. His son, a developer, was, however, skeptical about the future. “The country is too much down the drain for anybody to rescue it,” he said, basing his view on the bleak real-estate situation in the south.

Our room-boy, all of eighteen and eligible to vote, hailed from Gudur in Coastal Andhra. “I will vote for the Congress, Sir,” he said, much to my delight. “Wow, here is one, who stands by his party through thick and thin!” I thought. “So, you are a fan of Sonia and Rahul?” I asked. “No, Sir, I am a fan of Jagan,” he clarified. “But you just said that you would vote for the Congress?” “YSR Congress, Sir,” he explained. Then it struck me. The people in rural AP aren’t just preparing to dump the Congress. They have even forgotten about its existence. Congress, now, means the YSR Congress led by Mr. Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the former chief minister. Perhaps, I should have changed the title of this story then!

As we left Puttaparthi, we left the narrow skyscrapers, the prosperity, the hustle and bustle, and, you can say, a bit of modern civilization as well. Along the way, were rocky hills. The terrain too was rocky. Where it was not, we could see some green fields. There were but tiny hamlets, which would remind people, from other prosperous villages of the district, of the rural landscape fifty years ago. The cell-phone towers are a reminder that we are in the 21st century.

In hamlet after hamlet, we saw graffiti put up by Telugu Desam Party supporters. “Vote for Chandrababu,” said one, a reference to Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, the TDP supremo. “His first signature (as CM) will be on a file that writes off farmers’ loans,” the graffiti said. Reminded me of a friend, now in debts. “We could sell our land to wipe out the loans,” said the husband. “We could rather take an agricultural loan from a nationalized bank,” suggested the wife. “The government will write off the loan after the elections,” she added. This was six months ago. I did not understand its logic then. Now, I can see wisdom in her prophesy.

“Vote for Chandrababu,” said the graffiti, in another hamlet, “for jobs.” “Vote for Chandrababu to reduce your electricity tariff,” was the writing that greeted us in yet another hamlet. It was so on and so forth, until we reached the town of Kadiri, a decrepit temple town, awaiting the fruits of development, with or without Telengana.

It is the same story in much of rural Rayalaseema, where people live as they did fifty years ago. “…No bread? Let them eat cake,” Marie Antoinette, the queen of Louis XVI, is reported to have said before the 17th century French revolution, in a story of dubious origin. “MGNREGS,” scream governmental graffiti in these hamlets, advertising the central government’s rural employment scheme, a “Let them eat cake” kind of substitute that the UPA has bequeathed to the rural poor, looking for real jobs, not welfare handouts.

It was only when we reached the town of Madanapalli, in Chittoor district, that we saw signs of prosperity. We were hosted lunch by a well-to-do couple. But signs of frustration were evident on their faces too. “Wish Chandrababu Naidu comes back,” said the wife. “We’ll see some development,” she added. Water is the main problem here, as in most of Chittoor district. “Bore-wells, more than one thousand feet deep, don’t yield water,” she revealed, with a sigh. I told her about the graffiti on the way, in which the TDP promised to take the people on the same Congress path of freebies and subsidies. But she brushed aside my misgivings.

Mr. N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, the last chief minister of a united Andhra Pradesh, who put up a stiff fight against bifurcation, is a forgotten man. So are the bandhs, rasta rokos and strikes. The people are a relieved lot to that extent. Mr. Reddy belongs to Rayalaseema, and has announced his intention to start a new party, but he and his associates are unlikely to make any impact beyond their constituencies. The battle royal in Rayalaseema is between the YSR Congress and the TDP. The educated and the middle-class seem to favour the TDP, while the rural poor would stick to the Congress, I mean, the YSR Congress. - See more at: http://www.theindianrepublic.com/tbp/rayalaseema-prepares-sink-congress-100028947.html/99#sthash.RHxw44AM.dpuf