Huzurabad, an Assembly constituency in Telangana’s Karimnagar district with around 2.3 lakh voters, has made headlines in the last few months for a number of political reasons. The poll-bound town and surrounding villages wore a pink look with massive campaign hoardings and flexes of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), with the ruling party highlighting its welfare schemes, making the upcoming bye-election – necessitated by the resignation of former Minister Eatela Rajender – a “prestige battle”.
Though the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the schedule for the bye-election, CM K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has begun an all-out bid by launching the Dalita Bandhu scheme in the constituency on a pilot basis. Under this scheme, each Dalit family will receive Rs 10 lakh, aimed at promoting economic empowerment through entrepreneurial progress.
While Eatela wants to prove his credibility by winning, the TRS wants to set a precedent against whoever is disloyal to the party or crosses the line set by its top brass, aka the KCR family.
During TNM’s ground visit, we saw a slew of road construction and other infrastructure works taking place in full swing in parts of the constituency. In a bid to woo the estimated 46,000 Dalit voters, the government announced that it will distribute the Dalita Bandhu scheme benefit to 21,000 families in the constituency. Owing to desperate poverty and backwardness, the Dalits are pinning their hopes on the scheme and are undeniably leaning towards the TRS – at least for the sake of the scheme.
However, in the run-up to the bye-election the scheme seems to have unveiled a “caste-wise” mobilisation of the Backward Classes (BCs). Sulochana K, a woman belonging to a BC caste in Huzurabad, asked, “Why Rs 10 lakh to Dalits alone? Many of us (BCs) are also poor, why can’t the scheme be applied to us as well?”
Parties wooing other communities
Perhaps it is this frustration that parties are trying to address. In a move to appease BCs, the BJP has been demanding BC Bandhu for BCs and Girijana Bandhu schemes for tribals without opposing the Dalita Bandhu scheme entirely.
“This fight is to free Telangana from KCR’s iron fist. Dalits should be given Rs 10 lakh under Dalita Bandhu, but at the same time BC communities like Goud, Yadav, Mudiraj, Nayibrahmin, and Brahmin communities, and widowed women from other castes should also be given Rs 10 lakh each,” said Eatala Rajender in a Gouda Garjana, a BC toddy tapping community meeting. The BJP has also organised Shalivahana Sammelanam (for the potter community) beside other caste meetings.
Leaders and ministers from the ruling TRS party are, on the other hand, laying foundation stones for the BC caste Bhavans in the town beside attending caste-wise meetings, seemingly to ensure that they won’t slip away from their fold.
State Finance Minister Harish Rao and BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar attended Munnuru Kapu, Vishwakarma and Rajaka (washermen) meetings. In the Munnuru Kapu meeting, Harish Rao said that the Munnuru Kapus of Huzurabad should vote for the TRS candidate, Gellu Srinivas Yadav. He said, “After the TRS wins, we will take the responsibility to construct a double bedroom house for each poor Munnuru Kapu family on their own piece of land.”
TNM attended one such meeting, organised for Christians at a function hall in Huzurabad town, where TRS leaders promised a Christian Bhavan or community hall besides assuring that they will solve other issues faced by the community.
Several youth that TNM spoke to said that after the meetings the TRS holds dawats (party) for cadres and attendees where dinner and liquor is served.
Musham Srinivas, a journalist based in Huzurabad, said that these caste-based meetings – especially for BCs – are a result of the fear of losing their support in the wake of the Dalita Bandhu scheme.
Srinivas said, “The TRS is somehow securing the support of Dalits with the Dalita Bandhu scheme. Owing to historical reasons certain BC communities are also demanding a similar scheme on par with Dalits. The BJP may back this, so to prevent any dissatisfaction brewing within BCs, the TRS is trying to placate them as well.”
He observed, “It’s not that there was no influence of caste in politics earlier, but this time it has become bold and visible.”
Panjala Manoj Goud, a supporter of Eatela, told TNM that despite the TRS’s strong efforts, BCs and other communities are looking towards the BJP. He said, “They are not going to win with Dalits votes alone, it also matters how other communities like BCs are looking at the Dalit Bandhu scheme in the context of the bye-election.”
TNM tried to have a conversation with TRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav during his campaign at Thummanapalle village, to know what he thinks will favour him in the bye-election and find out about his party’s caste-wise meetings. Gellu refused to talk to us claiming that he was busy with the campaign.
Dalita Bandhu – A scheme beyond Huzurabad?
However, political observers are seeing the role of the Dalita Bandhu scheme beyond the Huzurabad bye-election, claiming that KCR has a much larger ploy of holding Telangana in his hands owing to the 18% Dalit population in the state.
Dravida Bahujana Samithi (DBS) founder president and political commentator Jilukara Srinivas said, “It would be undermining KCR’s political strategy to say that Dalita Bandhu is limited to Huzurabad alone. He said he would spend Rs 1,80,000 crore for this across the state. This is part of a larger plan to capture the traditional Dalit vote bank of the Congress and silence the Bahujan political movement that is taking shape, which he foresaw long back.”
Interestingly, RS Praveen too said Dalita Bandhu is a scheme designed to prevent Bahujans from entering Pragati Bhavan (CM official residence), comparing it with Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit leader from the Congress, who was recently made the Chief Minister of Punjab.
RS Praveen said, “Congress’s Dalit CM drama for four months is like the TRS Dalita Bandhu biscuit [offered to Dalits]. Who defeated Dr BR Ambedker in 1947 and who troubled D Sanjeevaiah after making him CM in 1962? Then god knows about the 2014 Telangana Dalit CM promise! Anyway, what is this about someone giving us positions? We should snatch them by fighting (sic).”