Telangana Statehood Sentiment May Not Be Enough To Balance Discontent Against KCR: Poll Analysis
For the past two Telangana assembly elections, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been leveraging the sentiment of Telangana statehood and the years’ long fight for it. While it has proven to be successful for him until now, many in the state believe that this time, people’s local issues might overpower the regional sentiments, Outlook’s Anisha Reddy explains.
Issues such as unemployment and concerns linked to existing schemes such as Rythu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu, might overpower KCR’s hold in the state. The three main promises and issues on which Telangana state was born were – water, jobs and financial stability. Now, almost a decade later, these issues still remain key for voters to decide who will form the next government.
#TelanganaElection2023 #TelanganaAssemblyElections #Telangana #BRS #AIMIM #Employment #BJP #Congress #Elections2023
Issues such as unemployment and concerns linked to existing schemes such as Rythu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu, might overpower KCR’s hold in the state. The three main promises and issues on which Telangana state was born were – water, jobs and financial stability. Now, almost a decade later, these issues still remain key for voters to decide who will form the next government.
#TelanganaElection2023 #TelanganaAssemblyElections #Telangana #BRS #AIMIM #Employment #BJP #Congress #Elections2023
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NewsTranscript
00:00 With not less than a month to go for assembly elections in Telangana, a close fight is expected
00:05 between the ruling and the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samiti and the Congress party.
00:09 Although the BJP has tried to make inroads in the region, it remains a distant third
00:14 contender with the primary fight being between BRS and the Congress.
00:18 For the past two elections, the Chief Minister of Telangana, KCR, has been leveraging the
00:23 sentiment of Telangana statehood and the years-long fight for it.
00:27 While it has proven to be successful for him until now, many in the state believe that
00:31 this time, people's local issues and concerns with the existing schemes might overpower
00:36 the regional sentiment of the Telangana agitation.
00:39 During this agitation, the focus was on three major issues – water, jobs and financial
00:44 stability.
00:45 And now, almost a decade later, these issues still remain key for voters to decide who
00:51 will form the next government.
00:53 On the ground too, these issues are taking centre stage ahead of the polls.
00:57 Firstly, beginning with the mounting anger against the delay in fulfilling government
01:01 jobs.
01:02 Ever since the formation of Telangana, the state's public service examinations have
01:07 been marred with irregularities that are more so at the administrative level.
01:11 Along with causing distress to over 3 lakh government job aspirants who are awaiting
01:16 employment, the issue has also gained ground in the election campaigns of the BJP and the
01:21 Congress, who are accusing the BRS government of corruption in the process of conducting
01:25 the exams.
01:26 Secondly, while KCR and his government have been known for their welfare programs like
01:31 the Raitu Bandhu scheme for farmers, the Dalit Bandhu scheme for Dalits, and similar schemes
01:36 that were launched for the poor, women and other marginalized communities, a lot of these
01:40 schemes have been criticized for merely being an election gimmick and excluding vulnerable
01:45 sections of the population.
01:47 For example, KCR government's flagship Raitu Bandhu scheme, which was announced ahead of
01:52 the 2018 elections, excludes about 30% of the farmers in the state who are tenant farmers.
01:58 The cash support from this scheme goes only to the land title holder directly, pushing
02:03 many of these tenant farmers into debt and distress and driving them to die by suicide.
02:08 Farmers associations and farm leaders say that despite reaching out to the BRS over
02:13 the past few years to recognize tenancy and include a crop insurance policy, the party
02:18 has consistently refused to recognize tenant farmers.
02:22 Although this time around the Congress has included welfare measures to recognize tenancy
02:26 in its manifesto, farmer associations believe that as some farmers also have political affiliations,
02:32 it could be difficult to tilt the vote completely in favor of the Congress.
02:36 Meanwhile, the Congress and the BJP have been trying to consolidate different sections of
02:41 the population through their promises and schemes.
02:44 One such important section are the Dalits.
02:46 When KCR was made Chief Minister in 2014, he had promised to make a Dalit as the Chief
02:51 Minister of Telangana one day, a promise which hasn't seen light to this day.
02:56 The BJP, which has been accused of colluding with the BRS, has now capitalized on this
03:01 missed opportunity and promised that if BJP is elected, Telangana will one day have a
03:06 backward-class Chief Minister.
03:08 The Congress meanwhile has been riding on its Karnataka model of guarantees and has
03:12 promised a caste census if voted to power.
03:15 With the BJP and the Congress fighting to consolidate the minority votes, and the MIM
03:20 which already has a stronghold over these votes, some also worry that these minority
03:25 votes could now be split between the parties.
03:28 For now, the fight with Congress seems to be closer than the BRS had hoped for it to
03:32 be.
03:33 While both these parties are taking claim for the statehood movement, the question of
03:37 whether the spirit of Telangana's struggle as an election plank will work or not will
03:42 be answered on December 3.
03:43 [END]
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