ON THE ROAD: Telangana dithers between a yearning for change and fear of instability

“People with land get Rythu Bandhu. What about the landless poor? We get nothing even after 10 years of Telangana formation,” she rues while selling vegetables on the roadside.

There is, however, a difference between the two.

While Shankar is sure he wants a change of government, Lakshmi wants KCR back as chief minister, “but he needs to show there will be change”, she adds a rider.

In poll-bound Telangana, the strong feeling of fatigue and discontent against the BRS government is simmering right under the surface. There is a yearning for change but also doubts about whether an alternative like Congress will provide stability.

Also weighing on the minds of people is the fear that newly-announced welfare schemes that are almost within their reach, yet unattainable due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) being in force, may not materialise under a new regime.

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Unfulfilled promises, unachieved aspirations

After riding the big Telangana sentiment wave in 2014 to occupy the chief minister’s chair in India’s newest state, KCR is looking to create history by becoming the first chief minister in the South to score a hat-trick.

Almost a decade down the line, the Telangana sentiment is a fading memory as voters — several of them who agitated for the separate state — seek accountability on jobs, welfare, and development.

Mission Bhagiratha water tank in a village of Husnabad assembly constituency. (Anusha Ravi Sood/SF)

Travelling across the poll-bound state, two things strike you — one tangible and the other intangible.

The landscape is dotted with the huge blue-on-blue water tanks of the KCR government’s flagship Mission Bhagiratha scheme that has provided water to every household. The anti-incumbency against the BRS government among grumbling voters is the intangible.

In some, the resentment is strong enough to want BRS out, while in others it is more an expression of disappointment, but with their loyalty to KCR intact. For yet others, the question is whether there really is a “better” alternative.

“Even before winning elections, there is so much infighting in the Congress and there are so many CM aspirants. Who knows how long they can give a stable government if we vote for them?” Bharathamma, a 64-year-old resident of Shadnagar told South First.

Borewells in her land have failed and the rising prices of commodities are a burden, yet she believes a “known devil is better” and insists that, after YS Rajashekhar Reddy, the Congress hasn’t been stable in the region.

“We have given the BRS and KCR two terms in office. Now maybe is the right time to give someone else a chance. I voted BRS in the last two elections, but this time I don’t want to,” Chandrakala of the Husnabad Assembly constituency said.

She had campaigned for BRS in the last two Assembly elections. “Now they say they will reduce LPG prices to ₹400; but they have been in government for 10 years now. What stopped them from doing it before?” she asked, insisting it was a “ploy” to fool people.

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Whither 2BHK houses?

In Hanumkonda’s Bheemadevarpalle, Lavanya, a Banjara woman, reiterated the complaint South First heard from dozens of women across the state — the unfulfilled promise of delivering double-bedroom houses. Her family still lives in a house built during YS Rajashekhar Reddy’s Congress regime.

Lavanya, a Banjara woman in a Tanda near Rampur of Husnabad lives in a house built under Indiramma scheme under Congress regime as she awaits KCR double bedroom house. (Anusha Ravi Sood/South First)

”We are sleeping in homes covered with plastic sheets for roofs and dogs are sleeping in the double bedroom houses because they haven’t been allotted to anyone. We have applied too, but to no avail,” rued S Chiluka, a Dalit labourer from Utnoor.

It isn’t like voters aren’t appreciative of the ground the KCR government has covered in a new state like Telangana. Sixty-five-year-old Sambaiah, who owns a saloon on the outskirts of Warangal city, has only good things to say about KCR and BRS.

“We used to buy water tankers a few years ago. Now, there is 24-hour supply and a tap drinking water connection at home. He has done good work and we can see the difference,” he insists.

Yousuf, 25, works as a tailor in Jadcherla and is keen to see a change of government. “I will vote for BRS because KCR is a good man, but I feel there is a need for a change of government,” he said sheepishly, fully understanding the irony of his statement.

Ayilayya, a small farmer in Jangam in Nalgonda, is irritated with the KCR government dispensing Rythu Bandhu to large land-owning rich farmers.

“Only the haves are enjoying this regime, not the have-nots. Can’t the government stop Rythu Bandhu to rich landlords and recruit youth into jobs and pay them?” he asks, firmly insistent that this time he will vote for the Congress.

“I am a communist, but will vote Congress this time,” he says. His irritation has also got to do with how many people in his village haven’t received welfare schemes or the promised farm loan waiver.

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The new welfare schemes

Schemes announced by the KCR government right before the elections have put many of the applicants in a conundrum.

“I received a message that my farm loan of ₹25,000 has been waived, but the government hasn’t released money to the bank yet. They say because of MCC they haven’t released money to close my loan. What if a new government comes and they withdraw the waiver?” Anjalappa of Narsapur, a farmer asked South First, puzzled.

His concern was echoed by dozens of farmers and applicants for welfare schemes like Dalit Bandhu, BC Bandhu, Minority Bandhu, and the housing schemes.

Asked if these schemes were timed to coincide with MCC so it seemed like they were within people’s reach, when in reality they have left eligible applicants in limbo, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, in an interview with South First, responded in the negative. “Politics of hook and sink doesn’t work,” he said.

The disgruntlement is not only among apolitical voters. Supporters and even registered members of BRS in remote villages of Telangana, too, think it’s time to change the government over what they deem as the “arrogance” of those in power.

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On the cusp of change

Whether it is Zaheer Khan in Pipparwada of Adilabad or E Sudhakar in Govardhanagiri of Warangal — fans of KCR and workers of BRS — several think one term out of power may bring BRS back to its people-centric roots, but are hopeful corrective measures will be taken.

As the incumbent KCR-led BRS seeks a third term in office, voters in Telangana are on the cusp of wanting change. All they need as elections draw closer is a nudge — either from Congress, convincing them to take a step forward and convert their angst into a vote for change, or from the BRS, to pull them back with the promise that loopholes will be plugged and corrective measures will be taken.

To provide that last push, the Congress has come up with new ad campaigns, and rallies of leaders from the Gandhi family given the popularity Indira Gandhi continues to enjoy in the villages of Telangana.

The gap in the Congress campaign, however, is the grassroots outreach with the party’s six guarantees — the approach that brought them success in Karnataka is missing so far in Telangana.

Meanwhile, BRS is focusing on its strength — an organisational structure that has a good hold at the grassroots level — to woo people back booth by booth, village by village, with KCR as its lone superstar.