Polarising rhetoric falls flat

Hyderabad: The relentless efforts of Telugu Desam and Jana Sena parties to whip up the emotions of Andhra people with their anti-KCR and Telangana campaigns seems to be having little impact on rural voters in the state.

Rural voters don’t seem enthused by the campaign of either party or by the counter campaign of the YSRC. They are concerned with their many local and immediate problems.

No longer as naive as they used to be, rural voters are pulling up candidates of all political parties who visit their villages to seek their vote, and are demanding amenities such as safe drinking water, roads, housing and drainage.

This correspondent visited villages in the Eluru and Narsapuram Lok Sabha segments.

The villagers here made it clear that they are aware that the campaigns mounted by political parties are meant to divert them from the real local problems.

Vaddi Venkateshwara Rao, a resident of Uradallapalem, summed up the general feeling when he said, “We are more concerned about the village conditions. Safe drinking water and drainage and roads are the main issues in many villages in the delta area of West Godavari. None of the political parties has shown serious concern about these issues for decades now.”

Kunireddy Someswara Rao, ex-sarpanch of Ganapavaram village and vice president of AP state Velma Sangham, said the Telugu Desam and Jana Sena will not succeed in creating animosity between the people of the two Telugu states with their anti-Telangana campaign.

He asked if anyone could cite any incident where people of Andhra were targeted in Telangana.

Puppala Srinivasa Rao alias Vasu Babu, the YSR Congress candidate from Unguturu Assembly segment, who was campaigning in Uradallapalem village when this correspondent was there, said “Many rural people are not aware of the vicious campaign of the Telugu Desam and Jana Sena and they are not interested in it either. They are worried about their basic amenities.”

For example, he explained, “Sand is the basic ingredient to filter water. Due to the anarchism of the sand mafia, many villages can’t get filtered sand and are thus deprived of safe drinking water, which results in people facing severe health hazards.”

He admits that he too has faced the ire of the villagers for incomplete houses and improper drainage system.

Gottimukkala Bhaskar Raju, an aqua farmer in Peda Kapavaram village in Undi constituency, says that a number of his relatives and friends from Andhra have jobs and businesses in Hyderabad and he has never heard any complaints from them of being targeted by the Telangana people.

Bangarraju, a farmer in Ganapavaram village, says the hostility that is being fostered between people of the two states could have serious consequences. “Though we are aware that the TD and Jana Sena are indulging in false propaganda for political gains, it is worrying us, as some may see it as an opportunity to create trouble among people of the Telugu states.”