Prof K Nageshwar is back into the political fray after a gap of six years. He was elected as an independent MLC from the same seat for the first time in 2007 and then again in 2009. He had been an elected council member from 2007 to 2015. In an exclusive interview to TNM, Prof Nageswar discussed his campaign, shared his plans for the constituency and also shared why people of the constituency should choose him.
I am going to win this time as well. More than 50 organisations are supporting me and the fact is that I am hugely popular among the educated youth. I have more than five lakh subscribers in my own YouTube channel. No other candidate has as much visibility and penetration as me. Not just social media following, I have been part of the struggles of several sections of society for decades. Be it teachers, government employees, banks, unemployed, public sector, private sector, central government, state government etc. It is this connection that helped me win twice. I defeated all political parties in 2007 in which 56 candidates contested. People are ready to vote for me cutting across party affiliations. Political parties are trying to win this election using their money power, they want to offer Rs 5000 per voter. That is the level of political bankruptcy displayed by the BJP and the TRS.
The other parties are indulging in a slanderous campaign. They tried to spread that the TRS is supporting me. They have nothing to explain to the voters about what they will do and what they have done. Instead, they are campaigning based on religion, based on caste, based on money and malicious propaganda and character assassination. Today, parties are busy trying to tell people why they should not vote for Nageshwar, instead they should be telling people why they should vote for them. The BJP, the TRS and even the Congress claim it is a contest between me and their party. Surprisingly, today political parties are not fighting with each other, they are fighting with me. I have received a wonderful response from the people.
Well, I don’t believe anybody is an opponent to me and this is because I don’t believe in fighting with individuals or parties. I believe in fighting against wrong policies. I am an independent candidate and I fight based on issues. Political mud-slinging doesn’t serve the purpose. This is a legislative council election, it is an election to the upper house. Council also is being made like a prototype of assembly. My opposition to anybody is only based on an understanding of issues. Tomorrow if [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi brings fuel under GST, I will be the first person to speak for Modi as it will reduce the rates of fuel by Rs 20-30 price drop. Other political parties will not do this.
I am a university professor. I cannot get leave beyond eight years. Eight years itself was difficult to get, normally the leave is approved only for five years. I was out of the university for eight years during my term and as I have academic and professional compulsions. I am not a professional politician who converts politics into business and hence I had to give in to my academic compulsions.
This question should be asked to the people. In the eight years I was in the council, around 50,000 teachers’ posts have been filled. When I became an MLC there was not a single government degree college in Ragareddy district. Today, there are around 780 degree colleges that have come up because of me. I got outsourcing employees to be contracted and their salaries were increased by 300-400%. I fought for their rights and ensured it was done. If not for all this, it is impossible to fight all the major political parties in this election.
I am contesting as an independent because I am independent minded. I don’t contest as an independent for electoral advantage. I don’t want to be a part of any political party. A BJP person, even if he believes that the petrol price hike is incorrect, stays quiet. If I am in TRS, if I feel that not filling vacant positions is incorrect, can I speak out? I don’t want to mortgage my freedom of thinking to some leader or some party or a political ideology. I don’t want to be governed by a political mandate at the cost of the people’s mandate. Whether I win or lose, I will remain independent.
There is no need for finances as we believe in low-budget politics. People are voluntarily contributing and getting things done. I don’t need to pay my voters, in fact I don’t even pay the volunteers. For example — I am going today to a hotel to address a gathering of residents’ welfare associations. I have not even booked the hotel, I have not invited the media and I am not the one who is even hosting the lunch. Where is the expenditure? All the hoardings that have been put up have been sponsored by the people. I have not even spent a single pie on that. Couple of lakh rupees which I may have to incur, that I am capable of spending. Afterall, I am a professor with a decent salary.
I don’t want to comment on any other candidate as it is not decent on my part to do that. I only believe in policy campaigns and only believe in contesting against policies that politics. Policies prevail over politics for me. Today, even MLC elections have been reduced to political cacophony.
If you segregate the total number of voters which is above five lakhs, the first chunk of them are unemployed graduates. The state government has kept thousands of job postings vacant. Unemployment, pay cuts, job cuts remain a major issue, especially post the pandemic. For the employees, the revision of their pay, issues of pension, promotion, job cuts, wage cuts etc. Graduates are a heterogenous group and hence their issues are also heterogeneous. For LIC employees their concerns are different from bank employees. For teachers their issues are different. Issue of Central government employees is different from state government issues. This is a very diverse sector and all their concerns need to be addressed. It is not KCR vs Bandi Sanjay rhetoric which worked in the GHMC election. MLC education concerns educated voters. MMTS trains, sanitation, development etc., is their concern. More than common issues there are divergent issues.
My appeal to the voters is that it is the time to assert the civil society voice. Political parties are turning political parties into a rehabilitation centre for their unemployed. Suppose a politician loses his MLA seat, he wants to become an MLC. In 2015, when I did not contest, BJP won the seat. In 2018, he went and contested for MLA post. When you are already an elected MLC why should you try for an MLA? An MLC is superior. They just want the legislative council as a political rehabilitation centre. The council is a place where elders sit, decipher and analyse policies and laws. That is what the council is meant for. If the Council is similar to the assembly, why should we have another chamber in the legislature?