Hyderabad, Nov 4: “Give a politician enough rope, and he may hang his whole party by disclosing its innate contradictions and opportunism”.
By
now, the screaming and shouting is over and the dust seems to have
settled over the Sagara Haram (Telangana March) and so called signals
said to have been received by KCR on Telangana from Congress
high-command, thanks to the latest statement of Shinde, Union Home
Minster that decision on Telangana has national repercussions indicating
that the Congress is not in a hurry to settle the issue.
The
Telangana campaign after the momentum generated by Telangana March and
ongoing Padayatras by CBN and Sharmila somehow haven’t reached fever
pitch to generate delirious abuse and one can, for the moment, reflect
on the sad state of “Andhra Pradesh”.
The saddest part is
that Andhra Pradesh on the boil not so long ago has returned to simmer.
There is no danger—at least in the government’s eyes—of the wrath of the
people spilling over and sweltering all in its way. Appearances can be
deceptive, and to our mind this is the case at the moment.
“CBN
and YS Jagan, KCR and Kodandaram, Raghavulu and Narayana, Vimalakka and
Gaddar, coastal Andhra MPs and Telangana MPs” all are busy playing
their own game. Not one of them seems to have a people’s perspective.
The
Congress leadership has convinced itself that the CBN is in such a
sorry mess that he can only shoot himself in the foot if he tries to aim
the gun at the ruling party. With one squinted eye turned towards
enigmatic YSRCP leadership and unpredictable TRS supremo, CBN in fact
does appear more than confused.
In politics of Andhra
Pradesh, there are no areas of convergence among TDP and YSRCP and TRS
and neither miss an opportunity to lash out at the other on the
slightest pretext. Yet, surprisingly, there are stark similarities in
their approach towards state politics.
While YSRCP and
TRS are providing outside support to the Congress-led state government
“to check the growth of CBN as an alternative”, TDP on its part facing
charges of colluding with the Congress to halt the emergence of YSRCP
and consolidation of TRS. Every one of them is critical of the Congress’
vendetta politics and policy inertia on various issues and is ready to
rally the public against it, but none is eager and in an hurry to target
the Congress.
And, while all actors on the political
stage have called for the ouster of the Congress government to have an
early election for the Assembly, none is keen to oust the government
just now.
It came as no surprise; therefore, that KCR has
been on a “switch on- switch off” mode on a decision to relaunch the
movement. True to the form of personality-oriented political outfits
that his TRS has been reduced to, his party leaders authorized him to
take a decision at “appropriate time” and KCR has been allowed to plan
his next moves in a leisurely way in the confines of his farm house.
A
similar chore is being repeated in the TDP and YSRCP where the final
call will have to be made by CBN and YS Jagan respectively depending on
their convenience.
Their politics may be in jarring
contrast. Yet, their motivations are not much different. YS Jagan has
already spoken publicly about his Chief Ministerial ambitions.
In
case of KCR, it is the political grapevine’s worst kept secret. Each of
them is involved in back-channel communications with the political
establishment ruling in the Raisina Hills.
The allegation
leveled by the TDP that the Congress high-command is dangling the sword
of CBI over YS Jagan and keeping KCR under reins by reaching tacit
understanding with him on the strategy to be followed pending final
decision on Telangana, may be a cry of desperation. But it is not
without an element of truth.
There are other similarities
in the style of politics these traditional rivals in Andhra Pradesh.
While CBN has forged an OBC-led combination of minorities and a
sprinkling of other castes, in the case of Jagan the pyramid has Reddys
at the top and the rest downward.
On the other hand, KCR,
a shrewd politician endowed with an uncanny sense of timing, is mired
in arrogance that he is capable of reigniting the passions of Telangana
people whenever he wants. He is least cared of the average Telangana
protagonist who felt let down with his theory of signals, and continues
to enact his gimmicks with his narrative on his prolonged stay in Delhi
and his supposed fruitful discussions with the Congress high-command.
On
sidelines of above, there are many a maverick leaders and virtuoso
individuals who have began to shift their loyalties particularly from
the Congress and the TDP and are jumping either into YSRCP or into TRS
in search of their political future.
Matters are further
compounded when ‘all these so called "Aya Rams and Gaya Rams" are
advised by the respective party Presidents no less, to remain within the
strict confinement of Laxman Rekha. The trouble is that mythological
precepts from the Ramayana can’t be blindly prescribed for the much
darker times of the Mahabharata. Men of straw either in the government
or in the Opposition can’t lead their compatriots away from the
precipice in these dark times.
So much for politics of principles! Three Cheers for politics of opportunism!
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