ON THE ROAD: Poor outreach on guarantees, doubts over leadership — gaps in Telangana Congress’ campaign

Concrete roads, open drains in Jadcherla town. (Anusha Ravi Sood/South First)

Yet, with polling day less than three weeks away, the Congress’ big ticket poll “guarantees” — a key factor that influenced voters in its favour in neighbouring Karnataka — has barely made an impact on the people of Telangana, even among those who are eager for a change of regime.

Forty-one-year-old Ravi N in Jadcherla recalls images of KCR being rushed to the hospital while on his indefinite hunger fast during Telangana statehood movement.

“People feel emotionally attached to him, but where is the promised development,” he asks.

The open drain with filthy water outside his shop is proof enough of development shortcomings in his town.

“But what is the alternative?” he asks, insisting that he hasn’t yet come across the much-touted Congress guarantees this election.

Also Read: Reading the mood of Dalits, Muslims — will they hurt the BRS?

Congress’ cadre, candidate, campaign glitch

Several of the Congress guarantees are aimed at women voters, including a financial assistance scheme of ₹2,500.

Yet, 67-year-old Masru, a Banjara woman in Nalgonda, who doesn’t receive pension from the incumbent BRS government despite losing a kidney 11 years ago, has no idea if any party has promised women like her anything if they come to power this election season.

In neighbouring Karnataka, five guarantees of the Congress — especially the Gruha Lakshmi scheme that promised to transfer money directly to women household heads — was all the buzz, especially among women self-help groups. Corner meetings, poll rallies, door-to-door campaigns were all centred around the guarantees.

The same is not true for Telangana, much to the delight of the BRS.

In Patancheru, N Sarita is in a fix. She has been told by the BRS cadres that her application for BC Bandhu — a financial assistance scheme by the KCR government for Backward Classes (BCs) — will come through only if she votes for the party and brings KCR back as chief minister.

“The Congress candidate here is from the Backward Class and our community has decided to back BC candidates, but what about my application?” she asks, worried. Nobody from the Congress — candidate, cadre, or leader — has met her or spoken to her yet.

The poor penetration of its guarantees at the grassroots level is a major concern for the Congress in poll-bound Telangana. In a recent meeting chaired by AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, the poor outreach for guarantees, as highlighted by the party’s constituency observers, was a big, red flag.

“It’s the candidates who eventually drive the guarantees. Ours is not a cadre-driven party like the BRS in Telangana. You need someone to push cadres to work and that can only come from the candidates,” an All-India Congress Committee (AICC) observer appointed to oversee the elections told South First. 

The delay in announcing candidates, and multiple aspirants leading to factionalism and heartburn, have all come as a setback to the Congress outreach at the grassroots level.

Added to that is the party’s poorly depleted organisation structure in several districts.

“We lost a lot of leaders and cadres to other parties in the last four years. Bharat Jodo Yatra helped to an extent to mobilise cadres at the taluk levels, but it is no match for the BRS’ organisational strength at the booth level,” confessed an AICC official given charge of the Telangana polls.

Related: Telangana dithers between yearning for change, fear of instability

Congress gaining ground, but is it enough?

Travelling through Telangana, the voters’ preference for a change of regime is palpable. In many places, the feeling of anti-incumbency is quickly allowing the Congress to gain ground, but the gaps in the party’s own outreach efforts is a stumbling block.

“The government claims we get 24/7 power supply, but our village gets only six hours for farms between 11 pm and 5 am. There is severe bias in delivering schemes. It is time for a change,” S Mallesh, a farmer in Narsapur, insists. But with no information on what other parties are offering, he is at a loss of options.

Incomplete Sevalal temple in Kowdipalle of Medak built by Narsingh Ahlawath’s family in Telangana. (Anusha Ravi Sood/South First)

Narsingh Ahlawat of Kowdipalle in Medak is the prime example of what Congress has been complaining about — Dharani, the Telangana government’s revenue portal that digitises land records. An incomplete temple of their community deity Sevalal stands like a symbol of the unfulfilled aspirations and government’s pending assurances in tanda, or tribal hamlet.

“My land survey numbers haven’t been entered properly on Dharani and because of that I haven’t received the Pattadar passbook,” he told South First.

What it means is that the cotton he grows on his land is not procured by the government. Ahlawat has to hand over his harvest to an acquaintance who will sell it under his name.

“It also means I don’t get Rythu Bandhu and I can’t even apply for a loan in the bank since the Dharani records don’t show me as owner, despite having physical documents,” he rued.

Yet, he will vote BRS this time. “It is better to vote in the same government and approach them to resolve the issue,” he argues. That some 30 young men from his tanda are whiling away their time without jobs is also an irritant for him.

“But what is the alternative? Congress leaders keep fighting amongst themselves,” he points out.

Also read: Congress unveils ‘Minority Declaration’ in Telangana

The leadership issue

The bickering in the Congress camp and the lack of clear leadership — unlike KCR in BRS — is another pain point for the grand old party in Telangana. The open dissent among its top leaders, compelling the party to depend severely on its national leadership, has only dented its cause further.

The BRS campaign targeting the leadership, or the lack of it, in the Congress, and deeming it a “party run from Delhi” is helping the incumbent fuel its Telangana pride sentiment again.

Even those who do say good things about the Congress inadvertently refer to YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s government of united Andhra Pradesh and its schemes.

“I still live in a house built under Indiramma housing scheme. Arogyashri under YSR had helped my family,” recalls Oosaiah, a farmer in Medak’s Palyatla. His sentiments were echoed by Mukkira Swamy in Pipparwada of Adilabad.

In Husnabad, Parvathi has made up her mind to vote Congress because she is sure the KCR government wont help her get a house.  She wants money transferred into her account instead of the “poor quality Bathukamma saree” the government distributes.

Her voting preference and her demand for direct cash transfer is in line with the Congress pitch in Telangana elections, yet Parvathi hasn’t even seen as much as a phamplet about the “guarantees”.

Sitting outside her small tailoring shop, Sujata of Thimmapur in Karimnagar sees campaign vehicles of the BRS, Congress and the BJP blaring songs and seeking votes on loudspeakers all day. “Not one person from any party has come to us so far to tell us what they are doing,” she said, adding its her duty to vote and so she will.

There are very few like 72-year-old Bhagyamma in Alair who knows Congress has promised ₹4,000 as pension to her instead of the ₹2000 that she gets from the KCR government.

“BRS is now saying they will increase it to more than ₹4,000 but why didn’t they do it before Congress announced it?” she smirked. She is sure she will “get more out of” party persons when they come to seek her vote.

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The vote-share gap

From Khammam to Adilabad, Congress may be gaining ground, giving the impression that it is surging ahead of the BRS. However, a closer look at how things are stacked tells you that a massive gain from its previous election vote share of 28.7 percent doesn’t necessarily mean it is enough to beat the BRS, which registered a vote share of 47 percent.

To put it in simple terms, for the Congress — which currently has eight seats in the Telangana Assembly — increasing its prospects from eight to 40+ seats is a huge gain. Yet, 40 or 45 is still not 60 — the magic number needed for a simple majority in the 119-seat Telangana Assembly.

The ground the Congress is gaining in Telangana is thanks to anti-incumbency and fatigue with the BRS government. To do better in the high-stakes battle of Telangana, the the party will need a much greater push in the coming days, especially in terms of communicating its guarantees to the people and converting anti-KCR votes into pro-Congress votes.

“All our national leaders from Mallikarjun Kharge to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will hold back-to-back rallies and outreach events from 20 to 28 of November. It will be our all out push,” a Congress observer told South First, insisting that the party plans to pull its weight even on the guarantees in the last 21 days to the election.