Free power issue dominates panchayat polls

By R.J. Rajendra Prasad

HYDERABAD, JULY 9. With the campaign for the first phase of the panchayat elections in 11 districts in Andhra Pradesh coming to a close on Monday night, both the Congress (I) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are making the free power supply to farmers as the main issue. However, for the Telengana Rastra Samithi (TRS) leader, Mr. K. Chandrasekhara Rao, carving out a separate State is the single-point agenda.

The Congress (I) leader, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, promises free power to farmers and asserts that the TDP will increase the cost of subsidised rice to Rs. 7.50 per kg (from Rs. 5.50) and increase power tariff once the panchayat elections are over. Mr. Rao's idea of a separate State is ``not a new State but a mere reversion to the pre-1956 arrangement'' because smaller States such as Punjab, Haryana and Kerala have developed much faster than bigger States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, offers to give free power ``provided the Congress-ruled States such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also do so''. ``The Congressmen remember free power only at the time of elections,'' charges Mr. Naidu and accuses the Congress (I) of promoting separatism to ``push the State backward by three decades''.

Mr. Naidu criticises the Peoples' War Group for supporting the demand for a separate State, reversing its stand in every election in the past to boycott the election. In this election, the TRS will emerge as a new political force, while the fortunes of the Congress (I) are likely to decline.

The TRS has been getting good response from various sections of the middle class, which feel that a separate State is achievable, because the Congress (I), the BJP, the TRS and the PWG all support the idea, and only Mr. Chandrababu Naidu is against the move.

The prospects for the Congress (I) are not so bright because it lacks direction. The party's 40 MLAs from Telengana clamour for a separate State while the 50 other MLAs from Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions are not sure what their party's stance is.

Hence, in the Telengana region, the party is reduced to the level of a passive player, a second fiddle to the TRS, while in the Andhra region its attitude is marked by confusion. The Congress (I) wanted to make maximum benefit out of farmers' issues and the price rise but ultimately it had to depend on the influence of individual leaders for its campaign.

The TDP is banking on women, the backward classes and the Madiga sections in the Scheduled Castes to win in the Telengana region.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Next     : Campaigning ends virtually in 11 districts