Caste and the politics of merger
By Gautam PingleFirst Published : 05 Mar 2010 06:18:00 AM ISTLast Updated :
WHEN the issue of a separate Andhra State was raised, there was a
marked reluctance on the part of the Rayalaseema elite to the idea of
merging with Coastal Andhra.
However, on 16 November 1937, the Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra
leaders agreed to a pact which stated the following: (1) university
centres would be set up in Waltair and Anantapur; (2) preferential
claim of Rayalaseema and Nellore in respect of the utilization of the
waters of the Tungabhadra, Krishna and Pennar for ten years or as long
as it takes; (3) that each district would have only the same number of
seats in the Legislature and (4) the High Court and the Capital would
be either in Rayalaseema or Coastal Andhra with the choice to
Rayalaseema.
The (Dar) Commission on Linguistic Provinces examined the issues of
Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra and said: ``In manner, customs,
traditions and general outlook on life also the two groups differ, and
in a general way, though in a less intensified form, the distrust and
apprehension of domination and exploitation which exist in a Telugu
mind against the Tamil, find their counterpart in the Rayalaseema mind
against the Coastal districts.'' The Commission concluded:
"Rayalaseema being educationally, politically and economically
backward, it apprehends Coastal domination and exploitation in
services, legislatures, and in development schemes. And altogether, it
sees a better chance for the future development of Rayalaseema in
undivided Madras than in divided Madras after separation of Andhra.''
The similarity between the Rayalaseema position and the Sri Bagh Pact
in the case of Andhra State and the Telangana situation and the
Gentleman's Agreement in the case of Vishalandhra is striking. It
leads one to wonder that history can teach us if only we are prepared
to learn from it.
Despite the Pact, it took Potti Sriramulu's sacrifice to unite the
Rayalaseema and Coastal leaders to achieve Andhra State. The capital
was located at Kurnool and the High Court in Guntur. But the political
balance sought by Rayalaseema leaders with Coastal Andhra was not
possible constitutionally as the population of Rayalaseema was half
that of Coastal Andhra and Assembly seats were distributed by
population size in a democracy. Soon, however, the regional issue
became a caste one. Andhra State's two-year existence saw continuous
political trouble between the Communist Party (supported by the Kamma
community) and the Congress (supported by the Brahmin and Reddy
communities). Finally, the Prakasam Coalition Government fell and
fresh elections were ordered under President's Rule. Confronted with a
major take-over bid by the Communist Party, the Congress rallied and
formed a United Congress Front (UCF), which included the richer Kammas
under NG Ranga and other landholding communities afraid of land
reform.
The 1955 elections thus saw caste equations crystallized and united in
the United Congress Front. Of the 170 seats, the Communists got only
15 in the Assembly though they had contested 169. The UCF got 146
seats. Of the 146 seats won by the UCF, Reddys represented 45, Kammas
24 and Telegas 15. With this development, the Kamma-Reddy rivalry
moved from the Communist-Congress level to intraparty factions in the
Congress Party.
The Congress had become a Reddy-Kamma party -- something Ambedkar had
warned of in 1953: Take Andhra -- there are only two major communities
spread over the linguistic area. They are either Reddys or the Kammas.
They hold the land, all the offices, and all the business. The
Congress factional rivalry between the Reddys of Rayalaseema and the
Kammas of the Coastal Andhra had been managed under the threat of the
Communist take-over. Yet it was too inherent in the democratic polity
to disappear and it had economic and political consequences. Moreover,
Andhra State was virtually bankrupt.
Meanwhile, in the 1952 Hyderabad State Assembly elections the
Communist Front parties got 37 seats and Congress 44 seats out of the
total 97 Telangana Assembly seats. A separate Telangana could easily
become a Communist bastion. With the Brahmins and Reddys largely
dominating the Congress Party in Telangana, a merger with Andhra would
strengthen the Reddy element present on both sides as well as buttress
the anti- Communist front.
As far as the Reddys of Telangana were concerned, they had just tasted
political power after end of the Nizam's rule and that of the
military/ civil rule of the Central Government.
They had their inhibitions about their more aggressive Rayalaseema
cousins but again were perhaps not confident enough to exercise power
on their own. A merger seemed a neat solution for the anti-Communist
parties, Nehru and, of course, the Reddys of Rayalaseema and
Telangana.
After the merger, the Congress Party was enormously strengthened. The
1957 General Election was held in Telangana only (because Andhra had
one in 1955). With the revived party and alliance-building with the
other minor parties and caste groups, Congress romped home with 68 of
the 107 seats contested in Telangana. The Communists were reduced to
23 seats.
With 204 out of the 277 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the
Congress now became entirely a Reddy-dominated party.
In 1969, Congress, after neglecting the employment and development
needs (especially irrigation) in Telangana saw the Telangana youth
revolt at the lack of opportunities, the unfair treatment to their
region and the whole series of broken pre-merger promises and
guarantees. This led to a patch-up, which again did not work despite a
Telangana chief minister for the first time. For the shift in power
led to the Separate Andhra agitation in the Coastal Andhra led largely
by the disgruntled Kamma community. Eventually nothing changed till
1983. The Congress Party was perceived also to have ignored interests
of the powerful and rich Kamma community in the Coastal districts and
it paid the price when the Kamma-dominated Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
took power in 1983. The TDP had overwhelming support in Telangana,
which hoped for better treatment from it, but unfortunately this did
not materialize.
By 1999, caste-based voting had become the fact of politics: survey
data showed that 87% of Kammas and 62% of peasant OBCs voted for the
TDP and 77% Reddys, 64% of the Scheduled Castes and 60% of Muslims for
the Congress. This meant that the overall election result rests with
the other communities such as Kapus, Service OBCs and Scheduled Tribes
whose vote split almost 50:50 between the two parties. They could
swing the very fine division of the vote (10%) which decides and still
decides which party attains power.
Emergence of other caste groups such as the Kapu-dominated Praja
Rajyam Party or issues such as separate Telangana have upset the caste
balance achieved in 1956 and the reestablished balance since 1983. It
is not clear what the 2009 balance represented. Only one thing is for
sure, separation of Telangana will change everything.
(concluded)
Pingle is Director, Centre for policy and governance Administrative
Staff College of India
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