Vijayawada: Ever since Telugu politics became bipolar with the emergence of Telugu Desam in the early 1980s, one core issue has dominated the narrative and helped clinch the polls — ‘Telugu pride’ in 1982, ‘Delhi dominance’ in 1994, tie-up with BJP after the Kargil victory in 1999, drought in 2004, welfare schemes in 2009, the need for an experienced leader in 2014 and the anger from a feeling of being let down on the state’s development in 2019.
Keeping with the tradition, the acceptance or rejection of the periodical ‘pressing of the button’ by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, a symbolic gesture to showcase the transfer of social welfare benefits worth lakhs of crores of rupees directly to the people, could singularly decide the outcome of the May 13 elections.
It will also decide whether or not his arch rival, the 74-year-old Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, would return to power.
As a senior YSRC leader from East Godavari district summed up, the party will win if most people, ignoring the criticism that development was falling victim of an overdose of welfare, want the financial assistance to their families to continue for another five years.
The 2024 polls will also see class trampling over caste, as all surveys have indicated that the people, irrespective of caste, have developed a political affiliation over receiving welfare schemes or opposing them.
“It is a class war between haves and have-nots,” announced Jagan Mohan Reddy, launching his poll campaign. All through his ongoing Memantha Sidham (We are ready) bus yatra, the Chief Minister has been highlighting the YSRC government’s track record of distributing `2.7 lakh crore through direct benefit transfer (DBT) and `1.10 lakh crore through other welfare schemes. He is also cautioning the people that Naidu would discontinue the schemes if he returned to power.
According to sources, the YSRC is banking heavily on a section of people who had no source of income except the state’s financial assistance of a minimum of `10,000 every month through its many schemes. The party is also confident of senior citizens receiving `3,000 pension every month, and women beneficiaries of schemes like SHG loan waiver, house sites and Cheyutha pension, exhibiting their loyalty to Jagan Mohan Reddy. “All these sections form more than 45 per cent of the electorate,” top YSRC sources told Deccan Chronicle.
Official statistics reveal that DBT beneficiaries under various schemes among the BC communities numbering 4.27 crore receive `1.28 lakh crore, the 1.37-crore strong SCs `45,412 crore and the STs numbering 37 lakh getting `13,389 crore. The 35 lakh minorities in the state get `13,612 crore, the 65 lakh Kapus receive `26,232 crore and `43,132 crore goes to the other sections that has 1.66 crore people, the statistics say.
The recent disruption of the delivery of DBT cash at the doorstep of the beneficiaries by village and ward volunteers following the intervention of the Election Commission of India has come in handy for the ruling party. Jagan Mohan Reddy accused Naidu of causing the disruption by making his “aide” and former State Election Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar petition to the ECI.
The principal opposition’s politics with regard to the DBT and welfare initiatives has also been rather confusing and failing on the credibility factor. After hitting out at Jagan Mohan Reddy for pushing the state into a debt trap and starting no development schemes despite raising lakhs of crores of rupees for nearly four years, the TD sprang a surprise by promising more than what the YSRC government has been delivering.
For instance, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government extends under Amma Devena, `15,000 assistance to one child in a family, to encourage them to not drop out of school. Naidu has promised to extend the assistance to all school-going children in each family.
Similarly, after criticising the volunteer system which he said was being used as a “private army” of the YSRC, Naidu on Monday not only spoke in the favour of the system but promised to double their honorarium from `5,000.
TD general secretary Nara Lokesh’s defence of the doubling of schemes on the pretext of generating wealth did not cut ice with the voters.
In a paradoxical situation, the TD is heavily banking on the visible anger against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government among the forward castes, educated and employees of both public and private sectors emanating from what they say is the indiscriminate and reckless doling out of favours to buy votes.
