The underlying message the Congress is seeking to convey behind division of Andhra Pradesh is now becoming clearer — social reengineering or at least, an attempt at it.
On Sunday, when Delhi-centric political leaders usually stay off work, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who played a key role during the six-month-long division process hearing out pleas from Telangana and Andhra leaders, was in this Telangana town, about 60 km from Hyderabad, trying to wake up partymen from deep slumber.
In attendance were 1,000 party functionaries from village to district level while two dozen leaders occupied the dais. It is now more than two weeks since the Telangana bill was cleared in Parliament but leaders back in the region, busy as they are in securing their future in the new state, have done precious little to prop up the party or its chief, Sonia Gandhi. As local legislators consumed close to two hours to finish their usual quota of Sonia praises and waxing eloquent on how many seats the party would win, Jairam, accompanied by AICC SC cell chairman Koppula Raju, heard them patiently.
Raju’s presence at all the meetings that Jairam has been addressing in Telangana and Andhra is apparently meant to convey a message and you soon understand that when they speak. “Why did the Congress deliver Telangana State? Because, we saw in it a movement for social justice, driven by the underprivileged sections, SCs, STs, BCs and minorities. Even in the residuary state of AP, it is these sections that will benefit from division,” Jairam tells partymen, of course, with a rider — it may not happen overnight, but it surely will.
With the Reddys having deserted the Congress to move towards the YSRC and a good section of the BCs aligned with the TDP, it was inevitable that the Congress embarked on something that helps it retain its identity. And, it hopes, division will make it happen in Telangana immediately and a few years from now in Seemandhra as well.
And, throughout his speech, Jairam makes it a point to refer to both the states and how the Congress managed to do the best even as he accuses the BJP of having played a double-game with a double-face. “Aap ko maloom hai, BJP ne kya kiya?” he asks the gathering. “Chinnamma (Sushma) wanted credit for passing the bill in Lok Sabha and Manavadu (Venkaiah) tried to stall it in the Rajya Sabha. But for the efforts made by the Congress, the bill would not have cleared both the Houses,” he says.
He doesn’t spare the TRS either. “Agitation karna aasaan hai. (It is easy to agitate). Magar, bill laaya Congress ne and bill pass karaya Congress. In the end, it was the Congress that had the courage to bite the bullet.” If someone has still not understood, he gives another example. “As an agitator, Kejriwal gets 10/10 marks. But, as an administrator, he gets 0/10.”
The intention behind the effort cannot be missed. Having delivered the T state, the Congress is unwilling to give up the advantage but is conscious of the fact that it is not getting full credit. And, in Seemandhra, the BJP is trying to snatch the advantage away from the Congress for the sops given to the residuary state.
Jairam doesn’t miss to make the point. “We were clear right from the start. We should give Telangana but keep people of Seemandhra happy as well.”
And, then, he reels out the various measures that were proposed to protect Seemandhra. The Congress, he says, should be given credit for delivering twins without a caesarian. “It was a normal delivery and the other twin (Seemandhra) will also stay in Hyderabad until he finds a new home.” As if answering Telanganites complaining about compromises made, he says making sure that Hyderabad remains only with Telangana along with the revenues that come from the city was a difficult task. He first compares Hyderabad to a gulaab jamoon and then, asks someone on the dais the name of the famous Hyderabad sweet - “Qubani ka meeta.”
“You do not know what was the pressure on us. Sir, please make Hyderabad UT for 10 years. Or, at least, five years,” was a plea he had to hear almost on a daily basis. “But, Sonia Gandhi decided that Hyderabad dulhan ko Telangana ko dena chahiye.”
Outside the function hall, where the meeting was held, you get to hear mixed responses from people on the prospects of the Congress and the TRS. “People are keeping photos of Sonia in their homes,” Vasant Rao, a local contractor and Congress functionary tells you, trying to play down the threat of TRS. Of course, those who spoke from the dais claimed: “We will win 10/10 Assembly seats and both the LS seats in Medak district.” Detached observers will, however, tell you that the TRS is no push-over and it could be 50:50 for Congress/TRS or at best 60:40 in favour of the Congress.
Jairam delves a bit into history as well. Back in 1980, as the Congress reinvented itself under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, Medak etched a place for itself in history by electing the late leader. “This time too, Medak and the rest of Telangana should provide oxygen to the Congress,” he tells the gathering.
The Congress is most likely to get that oxygen but will it be good enough to survive on its own or does it require more quantity of O2 to stay in the saddle is the question.