From the margins to centre stage in Andhra Pradesh

TDP Nationwide President Nara Chandrababu Naidu waving each TDP and Jana Sena Celebration flags in Srikakulam.
| Photograph Credit score: BY ARRANGEMENT

Ahead of the final elections in addition to the Meeting elections in Andhra Pradesh, the Backward Lessons within the State have been pushed centre stage.

Each the ruling YSR Congress Celebration (YSRCP) and the Opposition Telugu Desam Celebration (TDP) have been competing of their efforts to remind the Backward Lessons that they gave the neighborhood due recognition. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has mentioned that just about 66% of Cupboard berths have been given to these belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Different Backward Lessons (OBCs), and minorities. The nationwide president of the TDP, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has mentioned that the TDP has been a “manufacturing unit and a college” that nurtured management from the Backward Lessons. The Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) has additionally joined the bandwagon and has blamed the regional events for not allocating sufficient seats to the Backward Lessons within the Meeting and in Parliament. The Backward Lessons are vital for the 2024 elections as they represent 52% of the inhabitants within the State. About 3 crore individuals fall underneath the class of Backward Lessons. As many as 139 castes are enlisted underneath this class. Teams such because the Yadavas, Goudas, Agnikula Kshatriyas, and Nayi Brahmins really feel that they don’t have sufficient illustration within the legislature.

When N.T. Rama Rao based the TDP in 1982, he sensed that the Backward Lessons have been sad and made it a precedence to allocate seats to the neighborhood. His formulation labored and the Backward Lessons sailed with the TDP for a lot of a long time. Alternatively, the Kapus, who’ve had a standard rivalry with the Kamma neighborhood to which N.T. Rama Rao belonged, remained unattached to the celebration.

The Backward Lessons have been the spine of the TDP. However issues started in 2016 when the reservation stir by the dominant Kapus, who represent 15% of the inhabitants within the State, turned violent. In 2017, the TDP authorities sought to enact a Invoice to incorporate Kapus within the record of Backward Lessons, however this didn’t obtain the Centre’s clearance. In 2019, the federal government handed a Invoice offering 5% reservation to the Kapus, out of the overall 10% reservation for economically weaker sections proposed by the Centre. The TDP was merely retaining a promise it had made in its election manifesto in 2014, however this angered the Backward Lessons neighborhood. It gave rise to apprehensions that the Kapus would stroll out with what was the rightful share of the Backward Lessons.

In the meantime, in 2018, Mr. Reddy mentioned throughout his Praja Sankalpa Padayatra in Jaggampeta that he couldn’t guarantee reservation to the Kapus if he got here to energy. Political pandits felt that Mr. Reddy was taking a call in opposition to the general public temper, which can hit the YSRCP’s prospects. Nevertheless, the YSRCP received 28 constituencies out of 34 within the East and West Godavari districts (composite), that are Kapu belts. It additionally received 14 out of 16 seats within the Krishna (composite) district the place Kapus reside in massive numbers.

Now, in a bid to win again the arrogance of the Backward Lessons, the TDP has promised a separate manifesto in addition to a particular laws to guard members of the neighborhood alongside the traces of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The TDP has been saying that underneath the YSRCP authorities, the Backward Lessons have been subjected to harassment. It has additionally promised 34% reservation to the neighborhood if voted again to energy.

The YSRCP argues that the federal government has ushered in social justice by allotting 50% of the nominated posts and contracts for SCs, STs, Backward Lessons, and minorities by way of a particular legislation. Even 80% of the roles of village and ward volunteers have been given to those sections, it says. The State authorities issued a Authorities Order in 2020 limiting reservation to 24.15% for Backward Lessons within the native physique elections as the overall reservations have been over and above the permissible restrict of fifty%. The YSRCP has additionally began appointing in-charges from the Backward Lessons and giving tickets to individuals of the neighborhood even within the open class Meeting constituencies regardless of the sitting MLAs and MPs sulking over the difficulty. Since Mr. Reddy is thought to be skilful within the artwork of social engineering, the TDP is on the again foot. As of now, it’s benefit YSRCP in garnering Backward Lessons votes.