In 2004, a senior police officer reached out to the office of the united Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu. He wanted to share his personal assessment of the upcoming assembly elections, due in the next few weeks. He conveyed to the powers-that-be that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) under Naidu was staring at defeat. The response from the other side was rather cool: “We are winning.” The officer walked back, doubting his own psephology skills.
Naidu and his party were confident that, as the architects of Hi-Tec City and boosters of the IT revolution, youngsters would unanimously act as their campaigners and influence farmers in their rural households. This was based on the anticipated lucrative employment opportunities and an improved lifestyle. However, in the ensuing elections, TDP tasted its worst-ever defeat, winning only 47 seats out of 294. It is widely believed that farmers, among other sections, were key constituents who voted out the TDP, unhappy with the high power charges. The youngsters and their aspirational future had little impact on the minds of the elders in their circles.
Two decades later, after the advent of social media and the bifurcation of the state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the younger and older generation of voters faced off once again, but with a reversal of roles. This time around, the youngsters might have won over the elders. Government job aspirants and unemployed youth in large numbers aggressively rallied against the ruling BRS party in Telangana for failing to fill up government posts as promised. However, the elders in the family were the biggest beneficiaries of state government schemes, drawing pensions, farmer cash transfer schemes, and other welfare programs like Kanti Velugu, a free eye check-up program that also gives away glasses for free.
Closer to the elections, a rift emerged in average rural and semi-urban families. Unlike two decades back, the youngsters were more emotional this time, determined to change the minds of the elders to 'not spoil their future' by voting for the BRS. On Sunday, EVMs gave a clear mandate to Congress in more than 60 of the 119 Assembly seats, while delivering a rude shock to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the majority of his cabinet, who were relegated to second and third positions. The BRS 'car' broke down under the burden of unfulfilled expectations and promises.
One of the main promises on which the BRS government came to power in the last two terms was jobs for locals. Except for filling up technical posts, the state failed to fill up Group 1, 2, 3, and 4 posts as assured. There were multiple issues with constable recruitments, even after the conduction of exams. Teacher recruitments also did not take place, despite a ballooning list of hopefuls. Just like how the youth spearheaded the Telangana agitation in 2009, the 'changemakers' in the 2023 Assembly elections were the youth.
Another section equally unhappy was none other than the media fraternity. Stringers and regional reporters, especially outside Hyderabad, strongly drove the anti-BRS narrative in the early stages of the election season. It was neither the result of an organized campaign nor a funded activity but purely a voluntary exercise born out of frustration.
At a village in a south Telangana district, we caught a reporter waving hands feverishly to his friends, encouraging them to reciprocate. They showed the palm and waved hands. This was his way of reminding people to vote for Congress. This occurred on the same day the newspaper he worked for carried multiple ads of the ruling party. Elsewhere, another reporter was seen taking out time after office hours to help the local BJP candidate. In the last nine years, KCR was asked by the mediamen on multiple occasions about the long-pending issue of allotment of plots to journalists at nominal rates in Hyderabad.
Each time the CM replied affirmatively, hopes were raised among the journalists only to die down soon after the issue was pushed back to the back burner. “If he wins again, there will be no self-respect left for journalists. We have no choice but to defeat him,” said a Telugu journalist from central Telangana who was once a staunch supporter of KCR and the Telangana movement.
The biggest grouse of journalists, along with the housing issue, is that they have been rendered powerless under the BRS government, which was allegedly more interested in dealing with the managements of media organizations than with the reporters. The fact that the BRS government restricted access of journalists to government institutions like Secretariat and Assembly added to the heartburn. The result was that journalists acted as unsung flag bearers of the opposition.
In the BRS government’s list of most novel schemes is the 2 BHK housing scheme, which is 100 per cent subsidized. The objective is to provide housing for all eligible poor families who don’t own a house and also fall under the category of Below Poverty Line (BPL). The scheme, initiated in 2015, caused as much damage to the BRS as it hoped to benefit. In every constituency, the micro section that was allotted units was detested by the majority of applicants who accused the local politicians of favoring their own.
The same trend could be seen everywhere as the eligible were impatient and utterly disappointed at not getting keys to their units. The same happened with another scheme aimed at empowering Dalits. The Dalit Bandhu scheme would provide Rs 10 lakhs, a 100 per cent grant to eligible Dalit entrepreneurs who wanted to give wings to their business ideas. Unfortunately, since it was a phase-wise exercise, only a few could get it, that too after allegedly bribing local leaders. Those who got it felt cheated, as they could only get partial amounts, and those who failed to get it turned against the party.
The cash transfer scheme for farmers, Rythu Bandhu too, left out a disgruntled section, as tenant farmers were not covered in it. Of course, another promise that BRS failed to fulfill and continues to haunt them is CM KCR’s promise of making a Dalit CM nine years back, which he backtracked on. For BRS, the weapons that had to fetch them victories, bled them.