11-21-2007, 04:20 AM
From Deccan Chronicle, 21 Nov 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Caste realities of AP
By Syed Amin Jafri
In his bid to regain power in the next Assembly elections due in early 2009, Telugu Desam president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is seeking to play the âcaste cardâ once again. When the Congress was in power during 1989-94, the TD, under N.T. Rama Raoâs leadership, had also tried to rake up the âcaste factorâ. However, NTR wrested power from the Congress not because of any caste polarisation but by getting support from all sections of society which were fed up with the Congress leadersâ obsession with dissidence rather than better governance.
NTR was soon âdethronedâ by his own son-in-law â Chandrababu Naidu â who set a record as the only Chief Minister in Andhra Pradesh to rule uninterruptedly for over eight-and-a-half years. Claiming that the Congress government, over the last three-and-a-half years, has meted out a raw deal to the Backward Classes, dalits and Girijans because of which these sections are on an agitational path, the TD alleges that all the key posts in the government and a majority of nominated posts are filled up with Reddys, thereby ushering in âReddy Rajâ in the State.
Releasing a list of such âappointees,â the TD contended that filling up posts with leaders from one particular caste could not be constructed as âIndiramma Rajyam.â To counter the âcasteistâ politics pursued by the Congress, Mr Naidu promises to give a sizeable number of party tickets to candidates from the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the minority communities in the 2009 Assembly elections. He demands reservations for the Backward Classes in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies on the lines of reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs.
Senior TD leader and former home minister T. Devender Goud has also been projecting himself as the leader of Backward Classes in the State, more particularly Telangana region. Even as the TD, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party are championing the cause of weaker sections such as BCs, dalits, Girijans and minorities, the Congress leadership is also alive to these attempts to whip up âcaste sentimentsâ to browbeat the party in the next elections.
For this reason, the Chief Minister is harping on the initiatives launched and increased budgetary allocations made for the SCs, STs, BCs and the minorities by his regime since 2004. The Congress is, thus, hopeful of tackling the Opposition onslaught on the issue of weaker sectionsâ welfare.
But what could prove to be a real challenge for the ruling party is the attempts being made by other organisations and groups â which claim to represent these weaker sections â to fight for social, economic, educational and political empowerment of âneglectedâ sections. Several retired bureaucrats belonging to weaker sections have come together with political activists like Dr Kancha Ilaiah to form the Forum for Empowerment of Weaker Sections, presumably as a non-political forum, to focus on the problems and aspirations of these sections.
A meeting convened by the forum provided an opportunity to prominent leaders from these sections to give vent to their grievances against the leadership of their own respective parties for giving a raw deal to representatives of these sections all these years. Veteran Congress leader G. Venkatswamy cried hoarse at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for denying him the opportunity for his elevation to the post of President of India. His grouse was that the party high command had let him down in the earlier presidential election too by not proposing his candidature. The forum has released a study on upper caste domination on the elected bodies like the AP Legislative Assembly. In the current Assembly, 96 out of the 294 members are from the Reddy caste, which constitutes six per cent of the Stateâs population.
Another 35 MLAs are from Kamma caste which accounts for 3.59 per cent of the Stateâs population. With 7.14 per cent share of the Stateâs population, Kapu caste has 21 MLAs. Other upper castes such as Kshatriyas, Velamas, Brahmins and Vysyas have fewer MLAs. Thus, three major upper castes, with 16 per cent share of total population, have 152 MLAs (51 per cent of total strength). The remaining 142 MLAs belong to 33 other castes and communities, including SCs, STs, BCs and minorities.
These statistics portray the State of affairs wherein the upper castes as well as some âprivilegedâ groups among SCs, STs and BCs enjoy political power. Though 94 castes are listed as BCs and categorised into four groups, members from only a handful of castes â Gouds, Yadavs, Munnuru Kapus, Turupu Kapus, Koppula Velamas, Gavaras and Padmashalis â have been elected to the Assembly. Out of the 59 sub-castes in the SC list, only Malas and Madigas have shared political power. Similarly, among the 33 listed Scheduled Tribes, only members from Lambada and Gond tribes have been getting elected to the Assembly. Among the minorities, only Muslims and Christians are getting represented in the Legislature. Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis are a neglected lot.
Apart from reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and Assembly for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Andhra Pradesh provides reservations for Backward Classes and women also in the local bodies (panchayat raj bodies and civic bodies). The representation for different castes and sub-castes among SCs and BCs and tribes among STs is somewhat better in the local bodies as the dominant caste groups among the weaker sections are usually nominated by the political parties to contest the polls.
The reservations for women in local bodies include proportionate representation for them among the seats reserved for SCs, STs and BCs also. What compounds the situation and perpetuates the upper caste hegemony in the State Assembly is the earmarking of âinformal reservationsâ for dominant castes by major political parties in successive elections. Right from the first AP Legislative Assembly to the present one, the upper castes have dominated the House, with the Reddys always accounting for the lionâs share.
Reddys have been the ârulingâ class both under the Congress and the TD rule. Their numbers in the Assembly have ranged around 70 in a total strength of 294 members during successive elections. In 1989 and 2004, when the Congress regained power in the State, their numbers crossed the 90 mark. Even when the TD swept the polls, their numbers hovered around 75 in a House of 294 members.
So, whether the Congress loses or gains power or the TD wrests or concedes power to its rival, the Reddys retain their position as the single-largest caste group in the Assembly. This happens because in a large number of constituencies and several districts, the main parties field Reddy candidates and whosoever wins belongs to this caste. Similarly, in several constituencies, the main parties field upper caste candidates belonging to other castes such as Kammas, Kshatriyas, Kapus, Velamas etc.
The number of Kamma members has remained the same in successive Assembly elections, irrespective of which party won the polls. Even the Communist parties, which fight for casteless society, are caste-conscious when picking up their candidates. It is unfair to blame the Congress for ushering in âReddy Rajyamâ or the Telugu Desam for âKamma Rajyamâ. Whether the bosses in these parties like it or not, they have to balance the caste equations in the selection of candidates for elections. Neither Dr Rajasekhar Reddy nor Mr Naidu can ignore the âcaste realitiesâ of AP politics.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Caste realities of AP
By Syed Amin Jafri
In his bid to regain power in the next Assembly elections due in early 2009, Telugu Desam president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is seeking to play the âcaste cardâ once again. When the Congress was in power during 1989-94, the TD, under N.T. Rama Raoâs leadership, had also tried to rake up the âcaste factorâ. However, NTR wrested power from the Congress not because of any caste polarisation but by getting support from all sections of society which were fed up with the Congress leadersâ obsession with dissidence rather than better governance.
NTR was soon âdethronedâ by his own son-in-law â Chandrababu Naidu â who set a record as the only Chief Minister in Andhra Pradesh to rule uninterruptedly for over eight-and-a-half years. Claiming that the Congress government, over the last three-and-a-half years, has meted out a raw deal to the Backward Classes, dalits and Girijans because of which these sections are on an agitational path, the TD alleges that all the key posts in the government and a majority of nominated posts are filled up with Reddys, thereby ushering in âReddy Rajâ in the State.
Releasing a list of such âappointees,â the TD contended that filling up posts with leaders from one particular caste could not be constructed as âIndiramma Rajyam.â To counter the âcasteistâ politics pursued by the Congress, Mr Naidu promises to give a sizeable number of party tickets to candidates from the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the minority communities in the 2009 Assembly elections. He demands reservations for the Backward Classes in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies on the lines of reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs.
Senior TD leader and former home minister T. Devender Goud has also been projecting himself as the leader of Backward Classes in the State, more particularly Telangana region. Even as the TD, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party are championing the cause of weaker sections such as BCs, dalits, Girijans and minorities, the Congress leadership is also alive to these attempts to whip up âcaste sentimentsâ to browbeat the party in the next elections.
For this reason, the Chief Minister is harping on the initiatives launched and increased budgetary allocations made for the SCs, STs, BCs and the minorities by his regime since 2004. The Congress is, thus, hopeful of tackling the Opposition onslaught on the issue of weaker sectionsâ welfare.
But what could prove to be a real challenge for the ruling party is the attempts being made by other organisations and groups â which claim to represent these weaker sections â to fight for social, economic, educational and political empowerment of âneglectedâ sections. Several retired bureaucrats belonging to weaker sections have come together with political activists like Dr Kancha Ilaiah to form the Forum for Empowerment of Weaker Sections, presumably as a non-political forum, to focus on the problems and aspirations of these sections.
A meeting convened by the forum provided an opportunity to prominent leaders from these sections to give vent to their grievances against the leadership of their own respective parties for giving a raw deal to representatives of these sections all these years. Veteran Congress leader G. Venkatswamy cried hoarse at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for denying him the opportunity for his elevation to the post of President of India. His grouse was that the party high command had let him down in the earlier presidential election too by not proposing his candidature. The forum has released a study on upper caste domination on the elected bodies like the AP Legislative Assembly. In the current Assembly, 96 out of the 294 members are from the Reddy caste, which constitutes six per cent of the Stateâs population.
Another 35 MLAs are from Kamma caste which accounts for 3.59 per cent of the Stateâs population. With 7.14 per cent share of the Stateâs population, Kapu caste has 21 MLAs. Other upper castes such as Kshatriyas, Velamas, Brahmins and Vysyas have fewer MLAs. Thus, three major upper castes, with 16 per cent share of total population, have 152 MLAs (51 per cent of total strength). The remaining 142 MLAs belong to 33 other castes and communities, including SCs, STs, BCs and minorities.
These statistics portray the State of affairs wherein the upper castes as well as some âprivilegedâ groups among SCs, STs and BCs enjoy political power. Though 94 castes are listed as BCs and categorised into four groups, members from only a handful of castes â Gouds, Yadavs, Munnuru Kapus, Turupu Kapus, Koppula Velamas, Gavaras and Padmashalis â have been elected to the Assembly. Out of the 59 sub-castes in the SC list, only Malas and Madigas have shared political power. Similarly, among the 33 listed Scheduled Tribes, only members from Lambada and Gond tribes have been getting elected to the Assembly. Among the minorities, only Muslims and Christians are getting represented in the Legislature. Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis are a neglected lot.
Apart from reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and Assembly for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Andhra Pradesh provides reservations for Backward Classes and women also in the local bodies (panchayat raj bodies and civic bodies). The representation for different castes and sub-castes among SCs and BCs and tribes among STs is somewhat better in the local bodies as the dominant caste groups among the weaker sections are usually nominated by the political parties to contest the polls.
The reservations for women in local bodies include proportionate representation for them among the seats reserved for SCs, STs and BCs also. What compounds the situation and perpetuates the upper caste hegemony in the State Assembly is the earmarking of âinformal reservationsâ for dominant castes by major political parties in successive elections. Right from the first AP Legislative Assembly to the present one, the upper castes have dominated the House, with the Reddys always accounting for the lionâs share.
Reddys have been the ârulingâ class both under the Congress and the TD rule. Their numbers in the Assembly have ranged around 70 in a total strength of 294 members during successive elections. In 1989 and 2004, when the Congress regained power in the State, their numbers crossed the 90 mark. Even when the TD swept the polls, their numbers hovered around 75 in a House of 294 members.
So, whether the Congress loses or gains power or the TD wrests or concedes power to its rival, the Reddys retain their position as the single-largest caste group in the Assembly. This happens because in a large number of constituencies and several districts, the main parties field Reddy candidates and whosoever wins belongs to this caste. Similarly, in several constituencies, the main parties field upper caste candidates belonging to other castes such as Kammas, Kshatriyas, Kapus, Velamas etc.
The number of Kamma members has remained the same in successive Assembly elections, irrespective of which party won the polls. Even the Communist parties, which fight for casteless society, are caste-conscious when picking up their candidates. It is unfair to blame the Congress for ushering in âReddy Rajyamâ or the Telugu Desam for âKamma Rajyamâ. Whether the bosses in these parties like it or not, they have to balance the caste equations in the selection of candidates for elections. Neither Dr Rajasekhar Reddy nor Mr Naidu can ignore the âcaste realitiesâ of AP politics.
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