While the statue has become a center stage in Telangana ahead of elections to appease the voters through symbolism, in a few months, Andhra is also set to inaugurate the statue of Ambedkar. Seen as a step to appease, will it work?
Published Jan 15, 2024 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 15, 2024 | 10:15 AM
Ambedkar statue in Telangana. (Supplied)
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, aka Babasaheb Ambedkar, an advocate of the annihilation of the caste system and the assertion of Dalit rights, is always needed for politicians as they try to reach out to Dalit communities in India.
Though he didn’t have a successful political career, he has always been a significant figure for politicians seeking success in the current era of politics.
Ambedkar lost two elections to the Congress that he contested in 1952 and 1954 from the Bombay North Central and Bhandara constituencies in Maharashtra.
However, his image among the Dalit population in India and their sentiments around Babasaheb, from being “untouchable” to becoming the architect of India’s Constitution, providing Dalits with equality of rights denied for centuries in Indian society due to the Varna system, has earned him high regards.
This factor is something political parties would always seek to leverage.
With a double-breasted suit, a long blazer featuring “balloon” pants, a tie, a large forehead, and slicked-back hair, topped with keen glasses, one finger raised in the air, and the Constitution in the other hand, Ambedkar’s statues make a notable and ubiquitous appearance in the two Telugu states.
In the recent Telangana elections, former chief minister and BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao made several attempts to reach out to the Dalit community, like the unveiling of a 125-foot Ambedkar statue, or naming the new secretariat after him. These moves were seen as an attempt to improve his image among Dalits, considering some unfulfilled promises towards them.
The question remains: Was he able to achieve his aim?
Similarly, will the setting up of a new statue of Ambedkar work for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy?
Does symbolism alone, without substantial affirmative action towards the marginalised, yield results?
Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, credited for his role in fighting for the formation of Telangana, made many promises for the Dalits but never realised them to the full extent.
KCR, a Velama, a land-owning forward community constituting just two to three percent of the state’s population, faced challenges in countering the dominant Reddys traditionally aligned with the Congress, and the Kammas aligned with the TDP.
As both communities have ruled for many years, KCR’s community had only seen less than 10 MLAs and one chief minister — Jalagam Vengal Rao, a Congress veteran, between 1973 and 1978.
For KCR, the support of an estimated 17 percent of the Dalit population is crucial arithmetically.
In a move against claims of fighting for Telangana for personal gains, KCR announced a Dalit as Telangana’s first chief minister, reiterating that his fight for the state was selfless.
He also made promises in the run-up to elections, including distribution of three acres of land for each Dalit family, but it was not delivered.
In 2014, he got as many as 13 Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved seats and lost four to Congress and two to the TDP. In terms of voting percentage, as per Lokniti-CSDS analysis, 33 percent of Dalits chose the BRS.
Heading for the second tenure in 2018, 16 SC seats were won by the BRS, while the Congress won two, and the TDP retained one seat. According to the Lokniti-CSDS numbers, 53 percent of Dalits chose the BRS in that election.
Asked why Dalits have supported KCR despite unfulfilled major promises, Prof E Venkatesu from the Department of Political Science at the University of Hyderabad and a member of Lokniti-CSDS, explained to South First that in 2014-2018, schemes like Mission Bhagiratha and Kakatiya addressed drinking and irrigation water needs which were not addressed by the earlier regimes.
He further highlighted that post-bifurcation, people witnessed changes in infrastructure creation compared to before. Simultaneously, as elections approached, the Congress allied with the TDP, triggering polarisation between Andhra and Telangana sentiments, which benefited KCR.
With KCR’s second tenure starting, expectations from him rose, especially from marginalised communities, as many promises were yet to be realised.
Rythu Bandhu, a poll promise involving an annual deposit of ₹10,000 per acre, was initially seen as a positive step. However, differences arose as only landlords seemingly benefitted, and tenant farmers, largely from marginalised communities, were excluded.
KCR announced Dalit Bandhu in 2021 as a pilot project in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency, and as of November 2023, only 40,000 Dalit families had benefited through the scheme, with the state spending ₹3,800 crore.
The eligible families for Dalit Bandhu are around 17 lakhs in the state.
Former CM KCR, his former ministers and chief secretary with Prakash Ambedkar. (Supplied)
Furthermore, KCR backtracked on another promise made in the Assembly, stating that he never made a commitment to distribute three acres of farmland to each Dalit family.
He even defended his nomination as the chief minister, asserting that, for various reasons, making a Dalit the CM couldn’t be realised. However, he expressed contentment, emphasising that people had given verdict in his favour in 2018.
Against this backdrop, KCR named the new secretariat after Dr BR Ambedkar and unveiled the world’s tallest, 125-foot statue of Ambedkar. But he faced setbacks in the 2023 Assembly elections, with only five SC seats retained by BRS and 31 percent voting by Dalits for BRS as per the Lokniti-CSDS survey.
Regarding whether the symbolism paid off for KCR, analysts and scholars have mixed opinions.
Prof Venkatesu emphasises that the voters see the values of Ambedkar didn’t manifest strongly in the actual implementation of schemes. It could be clearly seen that merely installing statues and using names had not decisively appealed to the community.
Dalit Sthree Sakthi (DSS) National convener Jhansi Geddam, and Katti Padma Rao, founder of Dalit Mahasabha, echo the statement.
While Jhansi stated that KCR’s efforts on ground were considered and symbolic appeasement could not deliver. Padma Rao opined that the appeal of Ambedkar didn’t work well due to resentment against KCR and his family, along with doubts of a nexus with the BJP.
On the other hand, Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, a political theorist, notes that figures like Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule have become popular sentiments.
He suggests that Dalits in Telangana generally align with the Congress. KCR retaining 31 percent of votes in 2023 perhaps indicates that he might have faced a more significant defeat if he had not relied on Ambedkar.
YS Jagan is scheduled to inaugurate a 125-foot tall Ambedkar statue worth ₹400 crore on 19 January, approximately two months ahead of elections.
While YSRCP is relying heavily on the “Ambedkar factor”, there is more debate following the Telangana election results of BRS which too relied on the same in months before elections.
YSRCP contested the general elections for the first time in 2014, securing 67 seats out of 175, with 13 seats from the SC segment out of the total 29 contested. “The SCs in the state constitute around 19 percent of the population, and the majority of them chose YSRCP,” says Prof Venkatesu.
With the bifurcation of the state and Congress leaders migrating to YS Jagan’s party, the Dalit vote bank shifted to the YSRCP. The shift can be seen from the fact that in 2009, Congress got a vote share of around 36 percent and won 156 Assembly seats, while the party drew a blank in 2014, and got a vote share of a mere two to three percent.
CM Jagan reviewing the Ambedkar statue construction works. (Supplied)
In the 2019 elections, YSRCP won with 151 Assembly seats, featuring a mostly welfare-centric manifesto called Navaratanlu (nine jewels) directed towards economically weaker sections. The party won 27 out of 29 SC segments, leaving one each to the TDP and the Jana Sena.
The politics around Ambedkar’s name in Andhra started in 2022 when YS Jagan revamped the financial assistance scheme from the name of AP Ambedkar Overseas Vidya Nidhi Scheme to “Jagananna Videshi Vidya Deevena Scheme” in July that year.
Later, he named East Godavari district as Dr BR Ambedkar Komaseema district in May 2022, which didn’t go well with the forward community, leading to violent protests and the burning of Pinepe Vishawaroop and MLA Ponnada Satish’s house.
While YS Jagan was criticised for his move, the rift between the forward community and backward classes grew in the state with the latter backing the move.
However, criticism has been directed at YSRCP for allegedly neglecting development and primarily focusing on welfare and the delivery of the promised Navaratnalu.
The welfare schemes include pensions, scholarships for school-going children, farmers’ incentives, reimbursing outstanding loans of self-help groups, and financial assistance to women above 45 years of age.
According to Government Advisor on Social Justice, Jupudi Prabhakara Rao, YS Jagan has released an amount of ₹2.50 lakh crore to four crore beneficiaries, of which one crore belong to the SC category.
While Jagan relies on these welfare schemes, Dalit organisations blame him for neglecting SC development by diverting funds meant for the SC sub-plan.
Andra Malyadri, state general secretary of Kula Vivaksha Vyatireka Porata Samithi (KVPS) in Andhra Pradesh, claimed: “The SC sub-plan funds were introduced in 2013 for the development of SC community and their habitations neglected by governments in budget allocations. This specific amount from each annual budget is exclusively meant for the development of the SC community. Now the SC sub-plan funds are being diverted to realise ‘Navaratanlu’ the general schemes for everyone, and SC beneficiaries are shown as benefiting exclusively from these schemes.”
This practice, according to Malyadri, defeats the purpose of exclusive development of the SC community. Malyadri also points out that even for schemes like pensions or scholarships, caste certificates are being asked, allowing government to claim the benefits done towards specific communities based on electoral interests.
Dalit organisations also say that Jagan has not fulfilled one of his Navaratanlu promises of banning alcohol. Instead, they argue that the number of low-quality, cheap alcohol brands has considerably increased, putting the lives of the marginalised community at risk.
Through a notification on 24 August, 2019, liquor shops in Andhra Pradesh were brought under government purview, with the Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corporation operating them.
Karavadi Subba Rao, state general secretary of Dalit Hakkula Porata Sangham (DHPS), states that while the move was said to be a phased introduction of total prohibition in the state, no such thing has been realised so far.
In fact, the government has allowed more liquor brands into the state, resulting in increased prices. There are complaints that individuals from the marginalised community, addicted to liquor, now face a double burden – consuming cheap liquor and suffering financial losses.
Malyadri and Subba Rao argue that the unveiling of the Ambedkar statue is an attempt to woo the SC community, but without tangible development on-ground, these PR efforts may not have significant electoral impact.
On the other hand, Padma Rao believes that Ambedkar statues are valuable symbols in a democracy, projecting basic values and principles. However, he emphasises that mere installations won’t be effective; those negatively affected by Jagan’s policies may not be swayed, but those who have benefited, which he believes comprise around 70 percent, could find the symbolism impactful.
“The ‘Highway Economy’ with big multilane roads, big airports, and seaports, and massive privatisation of public sector industries, is best suited where the Shudra productive masses are institutionally avoided to not have any major ownership of assets,” Ilayya opined.
Ilayya further argues that Jagan’s development model has shifted towards what he terms the “Shudra Development Model” (SDM), focusing on agrarian and artisanal masses. “I am using the historical term “Shudra” to indicate that the state Budget is mainly directed to the agrarian and artisanal masses, including all castes and communities that lead a life of labour,” he added.
In response to the question of funds meant exclusively for the SC sub-plan are being diverted, Ilayya questioned how many have actually benefited from the spending of SC sub-plan funds, stating that it is likely a minor number. However, he emphasises the broader benefits to a larger section now through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
