Congress Paid back in the same coin
K. Veeraiah
India News Network, New Delhi
The undoing of UPA in the Gangetic belt is almost complete with the latest developments in Bihar. As per newspaper reports, the differences between Congress and RJD over allotting a fourth parliamentary seat in Bihar led to the curtains falling on UPA in the state. In UP too, the coalition is in trouble for similar reasons. The differences between Congress and SP over four or five seats created rift with both the parties now deciding to contest in maximum number of seats on their own. Thus the Congress has decided to contest 37 seats in Bihar and 70 seats in UP. Both states together constitute 120 seats, which is 22 percent of the total parliamentary seats. It should be remembered that in the 14th Lok Sabha, the Congress had just had won just 3 seats in Bihar, while the RJD had won 22. In UP, it had won 6 while the SP won 35.
But, the main problem lies somewhere else. One can say that the seeds for the current undoing were laid in its political resolution adopted at the time of the Congress Plenary held at Hyderabad in January 2006. In the resolution adopted there, Congress expressed its willingness to fight the next general elections on its own. Speaking in support of the resolution the Congress General Secretary Amibka Soni explained the reasoning behind it. She said that the Congress wants to come back to power on its own free from the shackles of coalition partners. It is to be noted, around then the conflict between the Left and Congress over the Indo-US nuclear deal reached its peak. If we look at the deliberations of Congress Working Committee held on 29th January 2009 in Delhi, the picture would be clearer. After the meeting, the General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said, “The Congress will seek votes on its own, except in states where it is in alliance." He also briefed media that the CWC prefers post-poll alliance with like-minded parties instead of forging any national alliance during the elections. With this clear statement, Congress sent signals to Shard Pawar, Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad Yadav who proposed seat sharing beyond their respective states.
The reason given by senior Congress leaders was that it is the only party, which has a pan Indian presence, where as all the other UPA partners, are confined to their respective states. Sharing seats with them, according to the Congress will hamper its own chances to emerge as the clear winner. Charged up with the victory in Rajasthan and Delhi Assembly elections, coupled with their euphoria over completing the controversial nuclear deal, it is not surprising that the Congress nurtured such illusions. On the other hand, the principal opposition party, the BJP was already in a mode of self destruction even before the election schedule was announced, which might have helped to increase the confidence level in Congress. After the same CWC meeting, a senior Congress leader said that the Congress was even ready to play a “destructive role“ if the situation demands.
Followed by this CWC decision, Congress started seat-sharing negotiations with the Samajwadi Party, which was designed to fail. Congress successfully forced the Samajwadi Party to walk out of seat sharing negotiations and then came out in public its plan to contest in 70 seats. Then came Bihar. Congress took in the disgruntled RJD MP Sadhu Yadav to its fold. Replying to a media query in the presence of Union Power Minister Susheel Kumar Shinde, Sadhu Yadav confirmed that he would be contesting on Congress ticket. Until then Lalu and Paswan were playing one-upmanship among themselves over seat sharing. It is natural for Congress, which lost its traditional base to RJD and JD(U) in Bihar and to SP and BSP in Uttar Pradesh to try and regain space not by endearing the masses but endearing leaders such as Sadhu Yadav. This worked as an eye opener for both Lalu and Paswan. Immediately they sealed the deal leaving just 3 seats for Congress. The Congress in return announced that it would contest all the 37 seats.
In the least ten days, the coming together of BSP, AIADMK, BJD, TDP, JD (S) together with the Left parties has now forced the Congress to strike a deal with the NCP in Maharashtra. Thus, from 29 January to 21 March this year, the Congress has played a really destructive role in splintering the UPA in North India. In a multi-cornered contest, it can be predicted that in these two states, the ruling parties would fare better. In effect the UPA partners are implementing the decision of the Congress CWC decision to contest alone in all major states.
There is an added dimension to the Bihar fiasco. In Bihar the ruling NDA government has still more than two years of its tenure. It is doubtful to expect the lead partner JD (U) to join hands with the Non Congress Secular Alternative that is emerging. In such a situation, Lalu and Paswan might decide to come out of the UPA to seize the opportunity within their state by trying to forge an opposition to both the UPA and the NDA. Therefore, the Congress has managed to dismantle the UPA on its own, establishing it as a failed leader of a coalition.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Orissa Undercuts BJP's Claim over Delhi
Orissa Undercuts BJP’s Claim to Delhi
K.Veeraiah
The developments taking place with jet speed in Orissa undercutting the BJP’s claims over coming back to power in Delhi. And also these developments cleared decks for BJD to join hands with Left parties in Orissa and also to be part of non-Congress, non-BJP alternative under formation. In multiple ways the Orissa developments are important in the current context.
Navin Patnaik’s BJD is the long standing ally of BJP only next to its traditional ally Shiv Sena. The alliance of BJD and BJP began cracking in the wake of Kandhamal violence. Navin Patnayak has to face even censure from Central Government and also from Supreme Court over his inability in protecting the minorities of the state. He tried to reign the Saffran brigade which is fore front in attacking minorities. These attacks went uninterruptedly for more than two years. Particularly in consequent to killing of Swami by Naxalites, saffron brigade found an opportunity to prove their hegemony over minorities. These developments drew flack from all over the country and BJD government in dock since then. The current breaking of alliance with BJP will be a major step in instilling confidence among the Christian minorities of the state.
Another important aspect of this falling out is in numbers. Orissa sends 21 MPs to Lok Sabha. Currently except three, all MPs form part of NDA’s kitty. Current developments are a big jolt L.K.Advani, Prime Ministerial candidate of NDA personally. BJP 7 out of 9 where as BJP got 11 out of 12. Now BJP stands to loose in numbers as it will be contesting on its own. Even if it wins its earlier number ( 7) which is unlikely, NDA’s kitty will be reduced by 11 automatically. This will thwart BJP’s claim to power in Delhi in the current elections.
One more important aspect of this de-merger of alliance is the timing. These developments took place at a time when NDA’s lead partner BJP seriously locked up in seat sharing negotiations with other partners Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra and JD(U) in Bihar. So far BJP could complete the seat sharing agreement successfully only with AGP of Assam. In Maharashtra and Bihar consists of 88 Lok Sabha seats, BJP is minor partner. As per the news reports , in Bihar, BJP will be satisfied with 16 seats. The Maharashtra sharing out come is yet to see the light. With the BJD parting ways, other regional satraps will also muscle down BJP and forcing it to reduce their claim over number. If BJP did not falls in line, the existence of NDA will be at a stake. If BJP wants to keep NDA together, it has to bow down in front of JD(U) and Shiv Sena. In either case, the prospects for increase in current numbers in both states is a distant dream for BJP with out which it can’t think of sitting on the Delhi thrown. In Maharashtra BJP already tasted the ire of Shiv Sena when Its octogenarian chief of Shiv Sena refused a request to meet BJP prime ministerial candidate.
The last but not least aspect of current developments in Orissa is that this brings non-Congress secular forces on to single platform there by strengthening the secular forces and unleashing the new ear in the state politics. Navin Patnayak, after announcing in Bhubneswhar on Satuday night that his truck with BJP is over, immediately contacted CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury in Delhi. He also invited Yechury to Bhubaneswhar to work out on the future course of action.
K.Veeraiah
The developments taking place with jet speed in Orissa undercutting the BJP’s claims over coming back to power in Delhi. And also these developments cleared decks for BJD to join hands with Left parties in Orissa and also to be part of non-Congress, non-BJP alternative under formation. In multiple ways the Orissa developments are important in the current context.
Navin Patnaik’s BJD is the long standing ally of BJP only next to its traditional ally Shiv Sena. The alliance of BJD and BJP began cracking in the wake of Kandhamal violence. Navin Patnayak has to face even censure from Central Government and also from Supreme Court over his inability in protecting the minorities of the state. He tried to reign the Saffran brigade which is fore front in attacking minorities. These attacks went uninterruptedly for more than two years. Particularly in consequent to killing of Swami by Naxalites, saffron brigade found an opportunity to prove their hegemony over minorities. These developments drew flack from all over the country and BJD government in dock since then. The current breaking of alliance with BJP will be a major step in instilling confidence among the Christian minorities of the state.
Another important aspect of this falling out is in numbers. Orissa sends 21 MPs to Lok Sabha. Currently except three, all MPs form part of NDA’s kitty. Current developments are a big jolt L.K.Advani, Prime Ministerial candidate of NDA personally. BJP 7 out of 9 where as BJP got 11 out of 12. Now BJP stands to loose in numbers as it will be contesting on its own. Even if it wins its earlier number ( 7) which is unlikely, NDA’s kitty will be reduced by 11 automatically. This will thwart BJP’s claim to power in Delhi in the current elections.
One more important aspect of this de-merger of alliance is the timing. These developments took place at a time when NDA’s lead partner BJP seriously locked up in seat sharing negotiations with other partners Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra and JD(U) in Bihar. So far BJP could complete the seat sharing agreement successfully only with AGP of Assam. In Maharashtra and Bihar consists of 88 Lok Sabha seats, BJP is minor partner. As per the news reports , in Bihar, BJP will be satisfied with 16 seats. The Maharashtra sharing out come is yet to see the light. With the BJD parting ways, other regional satraps will also muscle down BJP and forcing it to reduce their claim over number. If BJP did not falls in line, the existence of NDA will be at a stake. If BJP wants to keep NDA together, it has to bow down in front of JD(U) and Shiv Sena. In either case, the prospects for increase in current numbers in both states is a distant dream for BJP with out which it can’t think of sitting on the Delhi thrown. In Maharashtra BJP already tasted the ire of Shiv Sena when Its octogenarian chief of Shiv Sena refused a request to meet BJP prime ministerial candidate.
The last but not least aspect of current developments in Orissa is that this brings non-Congress secular forces on to single platform there by strengthening the secular forces and unleashing the new ear in the state politics. Navin Patnayak, after announcing in Bhubneswhar on Satuday night that his truck with BJP is over, immediately contacted CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury in Delhi. He also invited Yechury to Bhubaneswhar to work out on the future course of action.
Orissa Undercuts BJP's Claim over Delhi
Orissa Undercuts BJP’s Claim to Delhi
K.Veeraiah
The developments taking place with jet speed in Orissa undercutting the BJP’s claims over coming back to power in Delhi. And also these developments cleared decks for BJD to join hands with Left parties in Orissa and also to be part of non-Congress, non-BJP alternative under formation. In multiple ways the Orissa developments are important in the current context.
Navin Patnaik’s BJD is the long standing ally of BJP only next to its traditional ally Shiv Sena. The alliance of BJD and BJP began cracking in the wake of Kandhamal violence. Navin Patnayak has to face even censure from Central Government and also from Supreme Court over his inability in protecting the minorities of the state. He tried to reign the Saffran brigade which is fore front in attacking minorities. These attacks went uninterruptedly for more than two years. Particularly in consequent to killing of Swami by Naxalites, saffron brigade found an opportunity to prove their hegemony over minorities. These developments drew flack from all over the country and BJD government in dock since then. The current breaking of alliance with BJP will be a major step in instilling confidence among the Christian minorities of the state.
Another important aspect of this falling out is in numbers. Orissa sends 21 MPs to Lok Sabha. Currently except three, all MPs form part of NDA’s kitty. Current developments are a big jolt L.K.Advani, Prime Ministerial candidate of NDA personally. BJP 7 out of 9 where as BJP got 11 out of 12. Now BJP stands to loose in numbers as it will be contesting on its own. Even if it wins its earlier number ( 7) which is unlikely, NDA’s kitty will be reduced by 11 automatically. This will thwart BJP’s claim to power in Delhi in the current elections.
One more important aspect of this de-merger of alliance is the timing. These developments took place at a time when NDA’s lead partner BJP seriously locked up in seat sharing negotiations with other partners Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra and JD(U) in Bihar. So far BJP could complete the seat sharing agreement successfully only with AGP of Assam. In Maharashtra and Bihar consists of 88 Lok Sabha seats, BJP is minor partner. As per the news reports , in Bihar, BJP will be satisfied with 16 seats. The Maharashtra sharing out come is yet to see the light. With the BJD parting ways, other regional satraps will also muscle down BJP and forcing it to reduce their claim over number. If BJP did not falls in line, the existence of NDA will be at a stake. If BJP wants to keep NDA together, it has to bow down in front of JD(U) and Shiv Sena. In either case, the prospects for increase in current numbers in both states is a distant dream for BJP with out which it can’t think of sitting on the Delhi thrown. In Maharashtra BJP already tasted the ire of Shiv Sena when Its octogenarian chief of Shiv Sena refused a request to meet BJP prime ministerial candidate.
The last but not least aspect of current developments in Orissa is that this brings non-Congress secular forces on to single platform there by strengthening the secular forces and unleashing the new ear in the state politics. Navin Patnayak, after announcing in Bhubneswhar on Satuday night that his truck with BJP is over, immediately contacted CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury in Delhi. He also invited Yechury to Bhubaneswhar to work out on the future course of action.
K.Veeraiah
The developments taking place with jet speed in Orissa undercutting the BJP’s claims over coming back to power in Delhi. And also these developments cleared decks for BJD to join hands with Left parties in Orissa and also to be part of non-Congress, non-BJP alternative under formation. In multiple ways the Orissa developments are important in the current context.
Navin Patnaik’s BJD is the long standing ally of BJP only next to its traditional ally Shiv Sena. The alliance of BJD and BJP began cracking in the wake of Kandhamal violence. Navin Patnayak has to face even censure from Central Government and also from Supreme Court over his inability in protecting the minorities of the state. He tried to reign the Saffran brigade which is fore front in attacking minorities. These attacks went uninterruptedly for more than two years. Particularly in consequent to killing of Swami by Naxalites, saffron brigade found an opportunity to prove their hegemony over minorities. These developments drew flack from all over the country and BJD government in dock since then. The current breaking of alliance with BJP will be a major step in instilling confidence among the Christian minorities of the state.
Another important aspect of this falling out is in numbers. Orissa sends 21 MPs to Lok Sabha. Currently except three, all MPs form part of NDA’s kitty. Current developments are a big jolt L.K.Advani, Prime Ministerial candidate of NDA personally. BJP 7 out of 9 where as BJP got 11 out of 12. Now BJP stands to loose in numbers as it will be contesting on its own. Even if it wins its earlier number ( 7) which is unlikely, NDA’s kitty will be reduced by 11 automatically. This will thwart BJP’s claim to power in Delhi in the current elections.
One more important aspect of this de-merger of alliance is the timing. These developments took place at a time when NDA’s lead partner BJP seriously locked up in seat sharing negotiations with other partners Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra and JD(U) in Bihar. So far BJP could complete the seat sharing agreement successfully only with AGP of Assam. In Maharashtra and Bihar consists of 88 Lok Sabha seats, BJP is minor partner. As per the news reports , in Bihar, BJP will be satisfied with 16 seats. The Maharashtra sharing out come is yet to see the light. With the BJD parting ways, other regional satraps will also muscle down BJP and forcing it to reduce their claim over number. If BJP did not falls in line, the existence of NDA will be at a stake. If BJP wants to keep NDA together, it has to bow down in front of JD(U) and Shiv Sena. In either case, the prospects for increase in current numbers in both states is a distant dream for BJP with out which it can’t think of sitting on the Delhi thrown. In Maharashtra BJP already tasted the ire of Shiv Sena when Its octogenarian chief of Shiv Sena refused a request to meet BJP prime ministerial candidate.
The last but not least aspect of current developments in Orissa is that this brings non-Congress secular forces on to single platform there by strengthening the secular forces and unleashing the new ear in the state politics. Navin Patnayak, after announcing in Bhubneswhar on Satuday night that his truck with BJP is over, immediately contacted CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury in Delhi. He also invited Yechury to Bhubaneswhar to work out on the future course of action.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Possible Impact of Praja Rajyam in the Next Assembly Elections of AP
Can he Impact ?
Konduri Veeraiah
With the Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam, once again, the political discourse is shifted to the emerging Caste loyalties vis-à-vis political parties in Andhra Pradesh. Discourses on caste and its manipulations in politics are not new. The process of secularisation and democracy gave a new fillip to the caste mobilisations as democracy represents in theory for majority. They can be traced back to Selig.S.Harrison’s ‘Caste and Andhra Communists’of the early 50s that threw light on the foundational role of caste in political mobilization. In this seminal work Harrison stressed the need for a special study on caste to comprehend its impact on representative institutions. In a continuation to this debate M.N.Srinivas has provided a data of the fascinating dynamics of ‘the caste’ in different walks of life in connection with the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamilanadu, Karnataka by applying the same principle in the light of first general elections to judge the emerging trends and changing political affiliations.
As the colonial rule unravelled and de-linked social caste from religious caste, it has became “ a single term of capable of expressing, organising, and above all systematising India’s diverse form of social identity, community and organisation.” Caste forms in to a major element in the social organisation with its long-established authority at the bottom. Thus the interplay of Caste and political democracy has always been an issue of renewed interest and controversy in this country as the process of group dynamics and web of power alignments in Indian villages are infinitely complex. Though caste has been a crucial player in articulating political mobilisation in the state there are no enough studies that deal with the changing political allegiances and reasons behind it, particularly after institutionalising the democratic process. In view of the ever changing nature of the caste, an attempt has been made in this essay to examine M.N.Srinivas’s concept of Dominant caste to forecast the possible emerging scenarios of Chiranjeevi’s influence and role in the politics of Andhrapradesh.
Like in any other part of the country, in Andhra Pradesh also Caste has played an important role either directly or indirectly in political mobilisations. The only difference as far me is that due to the strong presence of communist movement, till 90’s caste played only discrete role while in some other states the political mobilisation of caste started as early as immediately after the independence. With emergence of Telugudesam in the state’s political landscape, the role of caste started functioning in open unlike in the 60’s and 70’s. Presently the Telugu society has, become busy with the same political discourse that the state had seen with the political entry of the actor turned politician, N.T.Ramarao(NTR), a kamma person by caste. N.T.R proclaimed that he was launching a party, the Telugu Desam Party(TDP),with the sole aim of protecting the Telugu people’s pride or self respect. But this time around ,after a quarter century, the state reverted back to a similarkind of debate with another cine star Chiranjeevi launching his Praja Rajyam party(PRP).
In the recent past realisation of numerical strength and articulation of interests in political spheres has seen a new phenomena called “social engineering”. The phrase “ Social Engineering” became popular in the wake of BSP’s upsurge first in UttarPradesh and gradually on the national political landscape. Way back in early 80s N.T.Rama Rao with his demigod like charisma succeeded in creating and consolidating a rainbow caste coalition by weaning away BCs and Dalits and considerable section of Muslims from congress fold. Telugu Desam organised social engineering by mobilising BCs, certain sections of SCs and Minorities to run together, under the leadership of a dominant caste, the Kamma caste, to question the hegemony of another dominant caste the reddy caste. Both these developments proves one more important thing which Dube emphasises in his article in Contributions to Indian Sociology exactly forty years ago, in 1968. Dube synthesises that mere caste is not a power wielding unit but the multi-caste alliance is. The difference between social engineering of TDP and that of BSP is in the leadership as to who are steering the wheel. In the case of BSP it is Dalits while it was and is, Kammas in the case of TDP. If we consider the TDP and BSP phenomenon we have to agree on Dube’s prophetic understanding of Indian villages and their power wielding structure. Though before BSP, TDP pioneered social engineering, social analysts missed the significance of this process.
To analyse the Chiranjeevi impact in politics of AP,I am relying on the theory of Dominant Caste developed by MN Srinivas in his studies of Rampura village in Karnataka, though I am not in full agreement with him about the criteria and functions of Dominant Caste. This compels us to dwell in to caste composition of the state with relevant details. As, there were no census based on caste after 1930 we have to depend on 1921 census conducted by Nizam’s administration that contained a column on caste to ascertain the respective percentages of each caste in the state of Andhra Pradesh. According to K.Srinivasulu ,in Andhrapradesh, the Brahmins form 3% , Reddys and Kammas, 6.5% and 4.8% respectively, and the other Backward Castes (OBCs) costitute 46.1%, of the State’s population.”
Major Caste wise Population in Andhra Pradesh
Backward castes % Forward castes % Scheduled castes % Others %
Golla/ yadava 6.3 Kapu 15.2 Mala 9.7 Muslims, Chirstians 7.0
Telaga 5.2 Reddy 6.5 Madiga 7.3
Chakali 4.2 Kamma 4.8
Mutarasi 3.3 Velama 3.0
Balija 3.0 Komati 2.7
Padmsale 2.9 Kshatriya 1.2
Kammari 2.1
Devangana 2.1
Goundla 2.0
Waddera 1.9
Mangali 1.3
Kuruma 1.3
Idiga 1.0
Kummari 0.9
Munnuru Kapu 0.8
Boya 0.7
Besta 0.7
Uppara 0.4
Gavara 0.4
Jangama 0.4
Others 5.4
Total 46.1 36.4 17 7.0
Source:K.Srinivasulu, Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories.
Major caste groups in the state are geographically distributed in different regions and each region has its own “Dominant caste” (in M.N.Srinivas’s understanding) that capitalized the opportunities such as education, land, power.,etc. It is also interesting to observe that different dominant castes of different regions are knitted together in to the web of power structures in same manner, thus drawing our attention to underlying factors of these relations. These web of power structures preconditions the political actors to forge a rainbow coalitions with different dominant castes of different region. In the case of Andhra Pradesh, so far the rainbow caste coalitions in the state are centering around the dominant castes; Reddys associated with the Congress party and Kammas of the of TDP. These groupings emerged out of 30 years of political churning and are in tact, though there are minor adjustments with the ground level voting shifts. Emergence of Telugu Desam and consequent ending of Congress’ monopoly created political dualism that is continuing for nearly three decades.
Undoubtedly people are vexed with dualism and hegemony, at every level including the polity and economic resources mainly because they are, in fact, not an alternative to each other but two sides of same coin. This is evident from the fact that the polices they are pursuing are one and same. The communities of Reddys and Kammas are, though numerically small, acquired multiple characteristics of dominance thus established themselves as Dominant Castes. Their dominance is evident not only in political arena, but also their hegemonic presence in academic, administrative, economic and land relations helped them to play leading roles in respective coalitions. Here comes a necessity of more structured debate over the characteristics and manufacturing of Dominant Caste. This debate is particularly important in the context of rise of subaltern castes to power. Another important fact we need to stress here is that these two castes in Andhra Pradesh occupied highest levels in local caste hierarchy also, unlike the jats in UP and Rajastan, Yadava in UP, Bihar. Coupled with the accrual of multi-factors, these two castes established themselves as dominant ones in the state.
A caste may said to be ‘dominant’ one when it preponderates numerically over the other castes, and when it also wields preponderate economic and political power. A large and powerful caste group can more easily be dominant if its position in the local caste hierarchy is not too low (MNSrinivas). Srinivas laid down four criterion of a dominant caste. First, it should be numerically large . Second, it should wield economic strength in the given area. Third, it should also wield political power. Lastly, it should not be too low in caste hierarchy. The characteristics of a Dominant Caste were expanded and strengthened when Dumont, Dube and Peter Gardner, Oomen etc. engages with MN Srinivas. If my understanding of MN Srinivas is correct, he basically relied on numerical preponderance in the first place for any caste to establish itself as dominant one.
Now we shall turn to see how these characters individually and collectively functions in establishing a caste as dominant caste particularly with reference mainly to Andhra Pradesh with often UP for comparison. Considering this definition, a question may arise as to whether mere numerical predominance is a sufficient prerequisite for a caste to become Dominant? In the case of Andhra Pradesh the forward castes that have been ruling so far are numerically not preponderant ones. But the influence they exert is so enormous that they uphold the existing caste hierarchy in society. Which means though the Kamma and Reddy communities of Andhra Pradesh are acted as dominant castes though they are numerically small. Being numerically low doesn’t affect their chances of occupying highest echelons of power. This proves about the existence of other factors that contributed to their dominance. They are also in forefront in ensuring the status-quo of social hierarchy in the basic unit, i.e. village. For this ensuring the status-quo, they even resorted to discriminative policies.
In essence they coupled the social discrimination with political and economic discrimination to wean away the opportunities from lower stratum of the village. In other words, thus they are discharging another important function of dominant caste, i.e. maintain the social order as it is. The experience of UP also defies the criteria of numerical preponderance. Though Dalits’ numerical preponderance does not always contributed to their dominance as it is evident from BSP experience. Master in social engineering, BSP could not dominate the state politically until it diversified its base and get a few upper castes in to its fold despite its numerical domination. Thus we are having two contrasting experiences to show that the first criterion, numerical preponderance, is not a basic/sufficient criterion for a caste to become a dominant caste.
The next criteria of M.N.Srinivas was the economic and political preponderance of a caste in a given area. Here his sequencing of the terminology is fascinating. He uses political preponderance next only to economic preponderance. This implies that economic influence is essential for a caste to construct a working alliance at village level to have political preponderance at the larger level. Economic lead empowers a caste to move across different sections of the economy by controlling and expanding resources. Land has been the mainstay of economic power in our society where the castes with rural orientation are holding the key. Now with the widespread capitalist relations of economy not only the ability to own and control the land constitutes economic hegemony but also its presence in trade, industry matters as it imparts the ability to spend counts. Unfortunately, though there is scarcity of data about the caste wise landholdings in general through out the country and particularly in AP. This forces us to analyze the role of these two criterion in establishing a caste as dominant caste on mere perceptions or assumptions.
To support our assumptions, Government of AP’s Land Committee under the chairmanship of Urban Development ministry pointed out the ever increasing concentration of land in to the big hands thus leaving the down stratum of society is loosing its landholding. Though it did not mentioned the caste wise landholdings, the essence it gives us is the same. One more example I can place here. In 1995 I was part of a team that surveyed one village, Lingarao Palem of Guntur district, where we found more than 80 percent of arable land under the village limits is concentrated in the hands of dominant caste in that village. As the village inhabits more than a dozen castes, the remaining 20 % of land is scattered among the left over castes of that village. A different kind of situation than this in the rest of the state is certainly ruled out. Except for the fact that the governments are forced to implement the reservations in local bodies, since the establishment of that village which we surveyed, the reins or in the hands of dominant caste only. Even after the reservations came in to force the BC and SC panchayat presidents are for the sake of record only. With this we can conclude that the though numerically small the dominant caste with considerable landholdings and say in the political affairs is ruling the roost.
Going by this evidence we can say that in the case of AP, the dominant castes presence in economic fields and political structures need not to be explained separately as the experiences of over 60 decades are in front of us. Even in some parts of northern India, subaltern casts like Jats, Yadava, Kurmis are able to influence the political structures only after they attained considerable presence in economic spheres of society. Thus these two criterion are primary for any caste which wishes to be a dominant one to poses. Because the overarching presence in these areas gives that caste or community to upkeep the existing socio-economic relations in tact and to ward of if necessary any attempts to change those structures of relationship. The last criteria is about the position of a caste on the hierarchy. By mentioning hierarchy in local caste system, Srinivas agrees that the caste hierarchy differs from place to place and even village to village. This doesn’t’ need an additional explanation. The Dalit as caste, irrespective of textual differences among them in terms of each other, could not constitute dominant caste primarily they would not have any interest in maintaining status-quo in social and political structures. May be this lead to BSP’s inability to establish its key constituents as dominant caste until it diversified its caste base by absorbing prominent figures across the social spectrum.
While articulating the caste mobilization politics is influenced by the dominant caste syndrome, it needs to be ascertained whether that particular caste constitutes a dominant caste or not. It should be in a position to sustain these social relations if it wants to sustain as a dominant caste. Thus assertion as dominant caste and ability to sustain the social relations structure based on the dominant caste syndrome are reinforcing each other.
With the above understanding of dominant caste, now we shall turn to the possible impact of Chiranjeevi and his Prajarajyam in the forthcoming elections. Now there is a common understanding or impression in the state in the well informed sections as well as in the press that the well of sections of Kapu community are behind the propping up of Praja Rajyam with Chiranjeevi at its fountain head. The question of whether Chiranjeevi would be able to steer the political scene in the state or not is entirely depends up on the fact that whether his caste can become a dominant caste or not. We will outline the three possible scenarios about the possible impact of Chiranjeevi’s party in the forth coming elections in the state and provide logical support in terms of above discussion about the dominant caste syndrome.
First,it can hamper the winning chances of a good number of candidates belongs to rival parties, there by leading to a hung assembly. Second possible scenario may be winning on his own provided forming a rainbow caste coalition on sustainable basis as precondition. The last scenario may be winning majority of seats in the community dominant constituencies and impacting the winning chances in other parts. For the first scenario to become reality the present process can be considered sufficient such as projecting him and his party as benefactor of his community. This leads to direct political articulation of caste mobilization. The realization of the second and third scenarios depends on the ability of his community rather than his own ability to lead the caste coalition only when the Kapu community becomes a dominant caste. This kind of rainbow caste coalition will also infuse confidence among the dissatisfied sections in other parties which will come handy to tilt the results decisively.
When caste articulation transcends the boundary line of individual social life aided by issues such as under representation, discrimination, identity, it will propel this articulation beyond the limited sphere of individual in to a larger sphere of society and turns in to political articulation. As mentioned above the first scenario is possible if Chiranjeevi and Kapu community succeed in generating awareness about the above mentioned issues, to establish himself as leader of that community. Still it won’t be sufficient to project him as a leader of under privileged or under represented backward castes. That needs to accommodate the issues of other castes and communities also in to his agenda. As the above table indicates there is nearly half of the population falls under the category of Backward castes that include Munnuru Kapu and Balija, two important sub castes of Kapu community. As the caste wise population is also distributed in different geographical scales as Kapu is mainly concentrated in coastal districts, Munnuru Kapu concentrated in Telangana region, Balija concentrated in Rayalaseema region. If all these three are put together in to single head it comes around 22 % of total population. If he succeeds in inculcating the sense of caste mobilization around discrimination, under representation and other such issues he may prove himself as a sole representative of that caste and can win considerable seats from the areas of community domination and also split proportionate voting in other parts of the state. So far except certain well off sections of this community in coastal region, general masses are with the congress party.
According to some observers Kapu, Balija, Munnuru Kapu communities are already started drifting their political loyalties towards Chiranjeevi. Various individual Kapu leaders are quiting their parties to join him. In this case the main looser will be Congress party which is camping with majority of general masses from that community. Even if his party loose he can play a spoiler’s role for congress. Realizing the potential threat of Chiranjeevi’s presence in the political battle YS Rajasekara Reddy’s government ,strategically, has moved pawns to show that his government can protect the interest of Kapu community and there is no need to shift their political loyalty. Steps initiated by government a day before the Tirupati Public meeting of Chiranjeevi, saying that the students of Kapu community are also eligible to get equal amount of scholarship at par with other students from BC communities must be seen in this backdrop . At the same time another issue he digged out is the notification that seeks to consider Kapus as BCs which was released and kept unimplemented for a decade. With these two steps Congress government initiated to divert the attention of Kapu community from Chiranjeevi. If Chiranjeevi picks up the issue of enumerating Kapu as BCs that may boil the political scene in the near future which may become too hot to handle even for Congress government.
As far as the next two scenarios are concerned a particular caste that wants to be the pillar of rainbow caste coalition needs to meet the other criteria also. Kapu community meets one criteria to become a dominant caste, i.e. numerical criteria. Being numerically largest populated caste among the forwards of backward castes, it can serve as dominant caste to lead the rainbow caste coalition which includes rallying of remaining backward communities, a section from SCs and minorities. In comparison to the other backward castes, Kapus are relatively on higher side in the case of prosperity, wealth, education but on the lower side in comparison to the dominant castes in forward communities. Though the exact data of caste wise ownership of assets in the state is not available we can say out of general perceptions that the Kapu community is having lesser share than that of its proportion to the population. Thus they may be lacking the economic criteria of a dominant caste that is coupled with political under representation.
If Chiranejeevi’s party succeeds in bringing about this kind of coalition he is definitely a winning choice in the state. Once this situation emerges the two dominant castes of the state won’t take much time to flirt with Chiranjeevi’s party to protect their economic interests if situation arises as they had done with Communists in late 50’s and early 60’s, though the comparison between Chiranjeevi of today and Communists of 50’s is an odd one. But to project this kind of rainbow caste alliance it needs time to construction, and resources to pour in. This proving sustenance can only be achieved once it infuses confidence among the disgruntled voters of the coalition in particular and other populace in general. And to face the electorate this caste coalition has to prove its sustainability. As the general elections is round the corner in Aprill2009 it may be difficult for Chiranajeevi and his outfit to form a rainbow coalition and prove its sustenance in this sharp and short gap. Even when consider the nature of work undertaken on the eve of the launching of his party like a construction of ready made building, this lack of time will prove costly for his entity. In a state where people are dis-satisfied by both major ruling parties, they are looking for a new one at the same time viable alternative which can focus on the length and breadth of their problems.
For the last criterion, the data shown in the above table it self gives an imprint about the hierarchic position of Kapu community in different geographical scales. As mentioned above Kapu with its two sub castes constitutes a single caste. The sub castes are occupying a downward position in the local hierarchy where as the principle caste occupies an upwardly position. But the fact that at the state level principle caste does not constitute an upper caste status in general, unless the caste community in a particular village dominates numerically as well as in terms of asset owning. Thus we can conclude that Kapu caste including its sub castes does not satisfy the criterion of a Dominant Caste. This itself informs that the caste in question is not in a position to lead a rainbow coalition of castes. Thus it could not influence the electoral prospects on its own in a decisive way.
References:
1.M.N.Srinivas,Castein Modern India
2.Nicholas Dirks , Castes of Minds
3.K.Srinivasulu, Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories.
4. Dube, in Contributions to Indian Sociology
5. Aditi Phadnis, Back to the future in Business Today, Sept 6, 2008
Konduri Veeraiah
With the Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam, once again, the political discourse is shifted to the emerging Caste loyalties vis-à-vis political parties in Andhra Pradesh. Discourses on caste and its manipulations in politics are not new. The process of secularisation and democracy gave a new fillip to the caste mobilisations as democracy represents in theory for majority. They can be traced back to Selig.S.Harrison’s ‘Caste and Andhra Communists’of the early 50s that threw light on the foundational role of caste in political mobilization. In this seminal work Harrison stressed the need for a special study on caste to comprehend its impact on representative institutions. In a continuation to this debate M.N.Srinivas has provided a data of the fascinating dynamics of ‘the caste’ in different walks of life in connection with the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamilanadu, Karnataka by applying the same principle in the light of first general elections to judge the emerging trends and changing political affiliations.
As the colonial rule unravelled and de-linked social caste from religious caste, it has became “ a single term of capable of expressing, organising, and above all systematising India’s diverse form of social identity, community and organisation.” Caste forms in to a major element in the social organisation with its long-established authority at the bottom. Thus the interplay of Caste and political democracy has always been an issue of renewed interest and controversy in this country as the process of group dynamics and web of power alignments in Indian villages are infinitely complex. Though caste has been a crucial player in articulating political mobilisation in the state there are no enough studies that deal with the changing political allegiances and reasons behind it, particularly after institutionalising the democratic process. In view of the ever changing nature of the caste, an attempt has been made in this essay to examine M.N.Srinivas’s concept of Dominant caste to forecast the possible emerging scenarios of Chiranjeevi’s influence and role in the politics of Andhrapradesh.
Like in any other part of the country, in Andhra Pradesh also Caste has played an important role either directly or indirectly in political mobilisations. The only difference as far me is that due to the strong presence of communist movement, till 90’s caste played only discrete role while in some other states the political mobilisation of caste started as early as immediately after the independence. With emergence of Telugudesam in the state’s political landscape, the role of caste started functioning in open unlike in the 60’s and 70’s. Presently the Telugu society has, become busy with the same political discourse that the state had seen with the political entry of the actor turned politician, N.T.Ramarao(NTR), a kamma person by caste. N.T.R proclaimed that he was launching a party, the Telugu Desam Party(TDP),with the sole aim of protecting the Telugu people’s pride or self respect. But this time around ,after a quarter century, the state reverted back to a similarkind of debate with another cine star Chiranjeevi launching his Praja Rajyam party(PRP).
In the recent past realisation of numerical strength and articulation of interests in political spheres has seen a new phenomena called “social engineering”. The phrase “ Social Engineering” became popular in the wake of BSP’s upsurge first in UttarPradesh and gradually on the national political landscape. Way back in early 80s N.T.Rama Rao with his demigod like charisma succeeded in creating and consolidating a rainbow caste coalition by weaning away BCs and Dalits and considerable section of Muslims from congress fold. Telugu Desam organised social engineering by mobilising BCs, certain sections of SCs and Minorities to run together, under the leadership of a dominant caste, the Kamma caste, to question the hegemony of another dominant caste the reddy caste. Both these developments proves one more important thing which Dube emphasises in his article in Contributions to Indian Sociology exactly forty years ago, in 1968. Dube synthesises that mere caste is not a power wielding unit but the multi-caste alliance is. The difference between social engineering of TDP and that of BSP is in the leadership as to who are steering the wheel. In the case of BSP it is Dalits while it was and is, Kammas in the case of TDP. If we consider the TDP and BSP phenomenon we have to agree on Dube’s prophetic understanding of Indian villages and their power wielding structure. Though before BSP, TDP pioneered social engineering, social analysts missed the significance of this process.
To analyse the Chiranjeevi impact in politics of AP,I am relying on the theory of Dominant Caste developed by MN Srinivas in his studies of Rampura village in Karnataka, though I am not in full agreement with him about the criteria and functions of Dominant Caste. This compels us to dwell in to caste composition of the state with relevant details. As, there were no census based on caste after 1930 we have to depend on 1921 census conducted by Nizam’s administration that contained a column on caste to ascertain the respective percentages of each caste in the state of Andhra Pradesh. According to K.Srinivasulu ,in Andhrapradesh, the Brahmins form 3% , Reddys and Kammas, 6.5% and 4.8% respectively, and the other Backward Castes (OBCs) costitute 46.1%, of the State’s population.”
Major Caste wise Population in Andhra Pradesh
Backward castes % Forward castes % Scheduled castes % Others %
Golla/ yadava 6.3 Kapu 15.2 Mala 9.7 Muslims, Chirstians 7.0
Telaga 5.2 Reddy 6.5 Madiga 7.3
Chakali 4.2 Kamma 4.8
Mutarasi 3.3 Velama 3.0
Balija 3.0 Komati 2.7
Padmsale 2.9 Kshatriya 1.2
Kammari 2.1
Devangana 2.1
Goundla 2.0
Waddera 1.9
Mangali 1.3
Kuruma 1.3
Idiga 1.0
Kummari 0.9
Munnuru Kapu 0.8
Boya 0.7
Besta 0.7
Uppara 0.4
Gavara 0.4
Jangama 0.4
Others 5.4
Total 46.1 36.4 17 7.0
Source:K.Srinivasulu, Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories.
Major caste groups in the state are geographically distributed in different regions and each region has its own “Dominant caste” (in M.N.Srinivas’s understanding) that capitalized the opportunities such as education, land, power.,etc. It is also interesting to observe that different dominant castes of different regions are knitted together in to the web of power structures in same manner, thus drawing our attention to underlying factors of these relations. These web of power structures preconditions the political actors to forge a rainbow coalitions with different dominant castes of different region. In the case of Andhra Pradesh, so far the rainbow caste coalitions in the state are centering around the dominant castes; Reddys associated with the Congress party and Kammas of the of TDP. These groupings emerged out of 30 years of political churning and are in tact, though there are minor adjustments with the ground level voting shifts. Emergence of Telugu Desam and consequent ending of Congress’ monopoly created political dualism that is continuing for nearly three decades.
Undoubtedly people are vexed with dualism and hegemony, at every level including the polity and economic resources mainly because they are, in fact, not an alternative to each other but two sides of same coin. This is evident from the fact that the polices they are pursuing are one and same. The communities of Reddys and Kammas are, though numerically small, acquired multiple characteristics of dominance thus established themselves as Dominant Castes. Their dominance is evident not only in political arena, but also their hegemonic presence in academic, administrative, economic and land relations helped them to play leading roles in respective coalitions. Here comes a necessity of more structured debate over the characteristics and manufacturing of Dominant Caste. This debate is particularly important in the context of rise of subaltern castes to power. Another important fact we need to stress here is that these two castes in Andhra Pradesh occupied highest levels in local caste hierarchy also, unlike the jats in UP and Rajastan, Yadava in UP, Bihar. Coupled with the accrual of multi-factors, these two castes established themselves as dominant ones in the state.
A caste may said to be ‘dominant’ one when it preponderates numerically over the other castes, and when it also wields preponderate economic and political power. A large and powerful caste group can more easily be dominant if its position in the local caste hierarchy is not too low (MNSrinivas). Srinivas laid down four criterion of a dominant caste. First, it should be numerically large . Second, it should wield economic strength in the given area. Third, it should also wield political power. Lastly, it should not be too low in caste hierarchy. The characteristics of a Dominant Caste were expanded and strengthened when Dumont, Dube and Peter Gardner, Oomen etc. engages with MN Srinivas. If my understanding of MN Srinivas is correct, he basically relied on numerical preponderance in the first place for any caste to establish itself as dominant one.
Now we shall turn to see how these characters individually and collectively functions in establishing a caste as dominant caste particularly with reference mainly to Andhra Pradesh with often UP for comparison. Considering this definition, a question may arise as to whether mere numerical predominance is a sufficient prerequisite for a caste to become Dominant? In the case of Andhra Pradesh the forward castes that have been ruling so far are numerically not preponderant ones. But the influence they exert is so enormous that they uphold the existing caste hierarchy in society. Which means though the Kamma and Reddy communities of Andhra Pradesh are acted as dominant castes though they are numerically small. Being numerically low doesn’t affect their chances of occupying highest echelons of power. This proves about the existence of other factors that contributed to their dominance. They are also in forefront in ensuring the status-quo of social hierarchy in the basic unit, i.e. village. For this ensuring the status-quo, they even resorted to discriminative policies.
In essence they coupled the social discrimination with political and economic discrimination to wean away the opportunities from lower stratum of the village. In other words, thus they are discharging another important function of dominant caste, i.e. maintain the social order as it is. The experience of UP also defies the criteria of numerical preponderance. Though Dalits’ numerical preponderance does not always contributed to their dominance as it is evident from BSP experience. Master in social engineering, BSP could not dominate the state politically until it diversified its base and get a few upper castes in to its fold despite its numerical domination. Thus we are having two contrasting experiences to show that the first criterion, numerical preponderance, is not a basic/sufficient criterion for a caste to become a dominant caste.
The next criteria of M.N.Srinivas was the economic and political preponderance of a caste in a given area. Here his sequencing of the terminology is fascinating. He uses political preponderance next only to economic preponderance. This implies that economic influence is essential for a caste to construct a working alliance at village level to have political preponderance at the larger level. Economic lead empowers a caste to move across different sections of the economy by controlling and expanding resources. Land has been the mainstay of economic power in our society where the castes with rural orientation are holding the key. Now with the widespread capitalist relations of economy not only the ability to own and control the land constitutes economic hegemony but also its presence in trade, industry matters as it imparts the ability to spend counts. Unfortunately, though there is scarcity of data about the caste wise landholdings in general through out the country and particularly in AP. This forces us to analyze the role of these two criterion in establishing a caste as dominant caste on mere perceptions or assumptions.
To support our assumptions, Government of AP’s Land Committee under the chairmanship of Urban Development ministry pointed out the ever increasing concentration of land in to the big hands thus leaving the down stratum of society is loosing its landholding. Though it did not mentioned the caste wise landholdings, the essence it gives us is the same. One more example I can place here. In 1995 I was part of a team that surveyed one village, Lingarao Palem of Guntur district, where we found more than 80 percent of arable land under the village limits is concentrated in the hands of dominant caste in that village. As the village inhabits more than a dozen castes, the remaining 20 % of land is scattered among the left over castes of that village. A different kind of situation than this in the rest of the state is certainly ruled out. Except for the fact that the governments are forced to implement the reservations in local bodies, since the establishment of that village which we surveyed, the reins or in the hands of dominant caste only. Even after the reservations came in to force the BC and SC panchayat presidents are for the sake of record only. With this we can conclude that the though numerically small the dominant caste with considerable landholdings and say in the political affairs is ruling the roost.
Going by this evidence we can say that in the case of AP, the dominant castes presence in economic fields and political structures need not to be explained separately as the experiences of over 60 decades are in front of us. Even in some parts of northern India, subaltern casts like Jats, Yadava, Kurmis are able to influence the political structures only after they attained considerable presence in economic spheres of society. Thus these two criterion are primary for any caste which wishes to be a dominant one to poses. Because the overarching presence in these areas gives that caste or community to upkeep the existing socio-economic relations in tact and to ward of if necessary any attempts to change those structures of relationship. The last criteria is about the position of a caste on the hierarchy. By mentioning hierarchy in local caste system, Srinivas agrees that the caste hierarchy differs from place to place and even village to village. This doesn’t’ need an additional explanation. The Dalit as caste, irrespective of textual differences among them in terms of each other, could not constitute dominant caste primarily they would not have any interest in maintaining status-quo in social and political structures. May be this lead to BSP’s inability to establish its key constituents as dominant caste until it diversified its caste base by absorbing prominent figures across the social spectrum.
While articulating the caste mobilization politics is influenced by the dominant caste syndrome, it needs to be ascertained whether that particular caste constitutes a dominant caste or not. It should be in a position to sustain these social relations if it wants to sustain as a dominant caste. Thus assertion as dominant caste and ability to sustain the social relations structure based on the dominant caste syndrome are reinforcing each other.
With the above understanding of dominant caste, now we shall turn to the possible impact of Chiranjeevi and his Prajarajyam in the forthcoming elections. Now there is a common understanding or impression in the state in the well informed sections as well as in the press that the well of sections of Kapu community are behind the propping up of Praja Rajyam with Chiranjeevi at its fountain head. The question of whether Chiranjeevi would be able to steer the political scene in the state or not is entirely depends up on the fact that whether his caste can become a dominant caste or not. We will outline the three possible scenarios about the possible impact of Chiranjeevi’s party in the forth coming elections in the state and provide logical support in terms of above discussion about the dominant caste syndrome.
First,it can hamper the winning chances of a good number of candidates belongs to rival parties, there by leading to a hung assembly. Second possible scenario may be winning on his own provided forming a rainbow caste coalition on sustainable basis as precondition. The last scenario may be winning majority of seats in the community dominant constituencies and impacting the winning chances in other parts. For the first scenario to become reality the present process can be considered sufficient such as projecting him and his party as benefactor of his community. This leads to direct political articulation of caste mobilization. The realization of the second and third scenarios depends on the ability of his community rather than his own ability to lead the caste coalition only when the Kapu community becomes a dominant caste. This kind of rainbow caste coalition will also infuse confidence among the dissatisfied sections in other parties which will come handy to tilt the results decisively.
When caste articulation transcends the boundary line of individual social life aided by issues such as under representation, discrimination, identity, it will propel this articulation beyond the limited sphere of individual in to a larger sphere of society and turns in to political articulation. As mentioned above the first scenario is possible if Chiranjeevi and Kapu community succeed in generating awareness about the above mentioned issues, to establish himself as leader of that community. Still it won’t be sufficient to project him as a leader of under privileged or under represented backward castes. That needs to accommodate the issues of other castes and communities also in to his agenda. As the above table indicates there is nearly half of the population falls under the category of Backward castes that include Munnuru Kapu and Balija, two important sub castes of Kapu community. As the caste wise population is also distributed in different geographical scales as Kapu is mainly concentrated in coastal districts, Munnuru Kapu concentrated in Telangana region, Balija concentrated in Rayalaseema region. If all these three are put together in to single head it comes around 22 % of total population. If he succeeds in inculcating the sense of caste mobilization around discrimination, under representation and other such issues he may prove himself as a sole representative of that caste and can win considerable seats from the areas of community domination and also split proportionate voting in other parts of the state. So far except certain well off sections of this community in coastal region, general masses are with the congress party.
According to some observers Kapu, Balija, Munnuru Kapu communities are already started drifting their political loyalties towards Chiranjeevi. Various individual Kapu leaders are quiting their parties to join him. In this case the main looser will be Congress party which is camping with majority of general masses from that community. Even if his party loose he can play a spoiler’s role for congress. Realizing the potential threat of Chiranjeevi’s presence in the political battle YS Rajasekara Reddy’s government ,strategically, has moved pawns to show that his government can protect the interest of Kapu community and there is no need to shift their political loyalty. Steps initiated by government a day before the Tirupati Public meeting of Chiranjeevi, saying that the students of Kapu community are also eligible to get equal amount of scholarship at par with other students from BC communities must be seen in this backdrop . At the same time another issue he digged out is the notification that seeks to consider Kapus as BCs which was released and kept unimplemented for a decade. With these two steps Congress government initiated to divert the attention of Kapu community from Chiranjeevi. If Chiranjeevi picks up the issue of enumerating Kapu as BCs that may boil the political scene in the near future which may become too hot to handle even for Congress government.
As far as the next two scenarios are concerned a particular caste that wants to be the pillar of rainbow caste coalition needs to meet the other criteria also. Kapu community meets one criteria to become a dominant caste, i.e. numerical criteria. Being numerically largest populated caste among the forwards of backward castes, it can serve as dominant caste to lead the rainbow caste coalition which includes rallying of remaining backward communities, a section from SCs and minorities. In comparison to the other backward castes, Kapus are relatively on higher side in the case of prosperity, wealth, education but on the lower side in comparison to the dominant castes in forward communities. Though the exact data of caste wise ownership of assets in the state is not available we can say out of general perceptions that the Kapu community is having lesser share than that of its proportion to the population. Thus they may be lacking the economic criteria of a dominant caste that is coupled with political under representation.
If Chiranejeevi’s party succeeds in bringing about this kind of coalition he is definitely a winning choice in the state. Once this situation emerges the two dominant castes of the state won’t take much time to flirt with Chiranjeevi’s party to protect their economic interests if situation arises as they had done with Communists in late 50’s and early 60’s, though the comparison between Chiranjeevi of today and Communists of 50’s is an odd one. But to project this kind of rainbow caste alliance it needs time to construction, and resources to pour in. This proving sustenance can only be achieved once it infuses confidence among the disgruntled voters of the coalition in particular and other populace in general. And to face the electorate this caste coalition has to prove its sustainability. As the general elections is round the corner in Aprill2009 it may be difficult for Chiranajeevi and his outfit to form a rainbow coalition and prove its sustenance in this sharp and short gap. Even when consider the nature of work undertaken on the eve of the launching of his party like a construction of ready made building, this lack of time will prove costly for his entity. In a state where people are dis-satisfied by both major ruling parties, they are looking for a new one at the same time viable alternative which can focus on the length and breadth of their problems.
For the last criterion, the data shown in the above table it self gives an imprint about the hierarchic position of Kapu community in different geographical scales. As mentioned above Kapu with its two sub castes constitutes a single caste. The sub castes are occupying a downward position in the local hierarchy where as the principle caste occupies an upwardly position. But the fact that at the state level principle caste does not constitute an upper caste status in general, unless the caste community in a particular village dominates numerically as well as in terms of asset owning. Thus we can conclude that Kapu caste including its sub castes does not satisfy the criterion of a Dominant Caste. This itself informs that the caste in question is not in a position to lead a rainbow coalition of castes. Thus it could not influence the electoral prospects on its own in a decisive way.
References:
1.M.N.Srinivas,Castein Modern India
2.Nicholas Dirks , Castes of Minds
3.K.Srinivasulu, Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories.
4. Dube, in Contributions to Indian Sociology
5. Aditi Phadnis, Back to the future in Business Today, Sept 6, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
US Crisis - Lessons from Indescriminate De-Regulation
The ongoing financial crisis in US gives an oppertunity to leanback and think twice before allowing indescriminate de regulation of financial sector. The nature of banking is not as it was before globalisation. With the world interlinked through the web of financial institutions, the nature of banking organs also changed forever. There are a lot of new forms of operations came in to existence. One of such is Investment banks.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Chiranjeevi, Left, TDP in AP
Coming elections a watershed for AP
Undoubtedly the forthcoming general as well as assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh are going to be a watershed in the political history of the state. Andhra Pradesh once again witnessed political upsurge. Unlike in any other part of the country the state witnessed emergence of two new political outfits. One by TDP splinter group leader Devendar Gaud and the other one lead by famous film star Chiranjeevi. The basic difference between two from people’s perspective is only that Gaud has been seen by the people in his political career, in the party and also in the government where as Chiranjeevi’s political personification is not know so far. To be presise Chiranjeevi is untested and Gaud is tested as politician.
We need to look at in to the context of these two emergences. Gaud deserted his parental party on the issue of Telangana. Chiranjeev does not have any such ground except his zeal to represent and be represented by the people. In that sense Gaud is having limited area of operation which is geographically confined where as Chiranjeevi is having the whole state as his area of operation. Gaud has limited sphere of influence and Chiranjeevi is having larger sphere of influence. The another aspect to keep in mind is that Gaud, being a tested political persona, is having his tested base of supporters, issue, team though he is not dwelling in to a single point agenda where as Chiranjeevi’s case is otherwise. As he himself, his team, issues of priority, political skills, ideology, programme of action, mainly the perceived mass base are still to be tested.
To put in on a wider canvass we have to recognise one more fact. The state witnessed over the last two decades a serious, prolonged, militant mass movements based on issues such as world bank, caste discrimination, housing problem and off course corruption. All these movements were spearheaded by the Left in the state under the leadership of CPI(M). Though these movements are not preceded by general economic crises of late 70s, these movements also added to the political churning process that is underway. If we look at the last 3 decades of political landscape, earlier single party domination ended with the establishment of two party system as in the case of Tamilnadu. The people who tired off experiencing the single party domination for at least 30 years overwhelmed by the presence of Telugu Desam Party in early 80’s. But the last 30 years experience particularly of the current generation is not satisfied with the performance of both TDP and Cong. Though the Cong in the state has witnessed generational change of leadership, there is no change of policy direction. Telugu Desam also failed to prove itself as it comes to overseeing development of the state which was resulted in drubbing of TDP in the last elections.
Currently except the Left in the state which lead prolonged struggles, both TDP and Cong are facing credibility deficiency. Even after five years as principle opposition party, TDP could not generate the lost confidence. Instead of rethinking over the party’s priorities, TDP and Chandra Babu Naidu sat in confidence banking on the anti incumbency voting. Due to several administrative steps initiated by Congress government in the state, the level of resentment in the rural areas is not as it is in the urban areas. In urban areas also the resentment lacks its fierceness. Here lies the failure of principle opposition party in chanellising the resentment. The main reason for this failure is that the party could not gain confidence even after four and half years of its rule.
In this context we need to gauge the tactical moves of TDP. There is a turn around on the issue of forging electoral ties that too particularly with CPI(M) in this decade. If we remember while facing the assembly elections in 1997 Chandra Babu Naidu was riding on clouds. He fought on his own. By that time his new uncharted path of development has not paid dividends. So people overwhelmingly supported him by refusing congress. Since then his style of political operation had been completely changed. Those were the days either in Delhi, of in Hyderabad or in Washington, whatever TDP supreme says that used to be considered as a revelation ! With that credited charishma as an intellectual, he used to coin new slogans day by day. One such slogan is that “ herein after there are no isms except tourism” is meant to kidding the Left in India. I shall share with you one such incident where he was beaming with confidence about the re-election. While addressing a visiting journalists team from Delhi, in 2002, at his residence Babu brought an interesting comparison of Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh where in he said that in all these states there is no effective political opponent who can match with the ruling party at that time. And also he analysed that the principle opposition parties in respective states failed to put forward a viable policy alternatives ! He used to boost up his cadre by saying that he will rule like CPI(M) in Bengal uninterruptedly. This shows that he basically banked on the failure of opposition to come back to power but not on his competency as ruler. With that style of functioning, and attitude he de-linked himself and also his party from the grass roots. People won’t take too long to prove that neither his nor his compatriot Laalu’s policies are so viable. By now he should have realised what was and is the difference between Bengal and Andhra Pradesh or Jyoti Basu and him hopefully. After exactly 10 years, in an eleventh year he is crawling to join hands with CPI(M) to re-establish his links with grass roots and also to fill the credibility gap that he generated during his tenure.
The direction of YS Rajasekar Reddy lead Congress government is also more are less in the same direction. He is also now running in to clouds about the failure of TDP in acting in the interests of people as principle opposition party. Over these all four years TDP could not able to understand what exactly went wrong for it in the last elections. So he could not think over his policies except for the media consumption. Exactly in this situation Chiranjeevi came on to scene hoping to en-cash this failure of principle opposition party role. After two weeks of his launching the party, PRP representatives in Hyderabad declared that they need not to enter in to any electoral understandings to defeat Congress. In movies directors used to be behind the screen. Here also the main architect of PRP, Allu Aravind is behind the screen, true to his role as producer / director. But filming is different from politics. In film industry though the fans are not known to have aspirations beyond a point. But in politics, where each and every step relates to the daily public life, people’s aspirations, wants, beliefs are linked to their livelihood problems. Chiranjeevi could not provide any viable policy alternative to his credit. He is having fans linked mass base. The time will prove whether he will be able to impact by transforming this fans linked mass base in to a credible political base from where he has to re-launch himself as a serious contender for the power in the next elections.
As of now the situation looks like a multiparty contest in Telangana and triangular contest in other parts of the state. This is the first time the state is witnessing such a multiple contests across the state. This is the reason why I felt the next elections will be watershed in states political landscape.
Undoubtedly the forthcoming general as well as assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh are going to be a watershed in the political history of the state. Andhra Pradesh once again witnessed political upsurge. Unlike in any other part of the country the state witnessed emergence of two new political outfits. One by TDP splinter group leader Devendar Gaud and the other one lead by famous film star Chiranjeevi. The basic difference between two from people’s perspective is only that Gaud has been seen by the people in his political career, in the party and also in the government where as Chiranjeevi’s political personification is not know so far. To be presise Chiranjeevi is untested and Gaud is tested as politician.
We need to look at in to the context of these two emergences. Gaud deserted his parental party on the issue of Telangana. Chiranjeev does not have any such ground except his zeal to represent and be represented by the people. In that sense Gaud is having limited area of operation which is geographically confined where as Chiranjeevi is having the whole state as his area of operation. Gaud has limited sphere of influence and Chiranjeevi is having larger sphere of influence. The another aspect to keep in mind is that Gaud, being a tested political persona, is having his tested base of supporters, issue, team though he is not dwelling in to a single point agenda where as Chiranjeevi’s case is otherwise. As he himself, his team, issues of priority, political skills, ideology, programme of action, mainly the perceived mass base are still to be tested.
To put in on a wider canvass we have to recognise one more fact. The state witnessed over the last two decades a serious, prolonged, militant mass movements based on issues such as world bank, caste discrimination, housing problem and off course corruption. All these movements were spearheaded by the Left in the state under the leadership of CPI(M). Though these movements are not preceded by general economic crises of late 70s, these movements also added to the political churning process that is underway. If we look at the last 3 decades of political landscape, earlier single party domination ended with the establishment of two party system as in the case of Tamilnadu. The people who tired off experiencing the single party domination for at least 30 years overwhelmed by the presence of Telugu Desam Party in early 80’s. But the last 30 years experience particularly of the current generation is not satisfied with the performance of both TDP and Cong. Though the Cong in the state has witnessed generational change of leadership, there is no change of policy direction. Telugu Desam also failed to prove itself as it comes to overseeing development of the state which was resulted in drubbing of TDP in the last elections.
Currently except the Left in the state which lead prolonged struggles, both TDP and Cong are facing credibility deficiency. Even after five years as principle opposition party, TDP could not generate the lost confidence. Instead of rethinking over the party’s priorities, TDP and Chandra Babu Naidu sat in confidence banking on the anti incumbency voting. Due to several administrative steps initiated by Congress government in the state, the level of resentment in the rural areas is not as it is in the urban areas. In urban areas also the resentment lacks its fierceness. Here lies the failure of principle opposition party in chanellising the resentment. The main reason for this failure is that the party could not gain confidence even after four and half years of its rule.
In this context we need to gauge the tactical moves of TDP. There is a turn around on the issue of forging electoral ties that too particularly with CPI(M) in this decade. If we remember while facing the assembly elections in 1997 Chandra Babu Naidu was riding on clouds. He fought on his own. By that time his new uncharted path of development has not paid dividends. So people overwhelmingly supported him by refusing congress. Since then his style of political operation had been completely changed. Those were the days either in Delhi, of in Hyderabad or in Washington, whatever TDP supreme says that used to be considered as a revelation ! With that credited charishma as an intellectual, he used to coin new slogans day by day. One such slogan is that “ herein after there are no isms except tourism” is meant to kidding the Left in India. I shall share with you one such incident where he was beaming with confidence about the re-election. While addressing a visiting journalists team from Delhi, in 2002, at his residence Babu brought an interesting comparison of Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh where in he said that in all these states there is no effective political opponent who can match with the ruling party at that time. And also he analysed that the principle opposition parties in respective states failed to put forward a viable policy alternatives ! He used to boost up his cadre by saying that he will rule like CPI(M) in Bengal uninterruptedly. This shows that he basically banked on the failure of opposition to come back to power but not on his competency as ruler. With that style of functioning, and attitude he de-linked himself and also his party from the grass roots. People won’t take too long to prove that neither his nor his compatriot Laalu’s policies are so viable. By now he should have realised what was and is the difference between Bengal and Andhra Pradesh or Jyoti Basu and him hopefully. After exactly 10 years, in an eleventh year he is crawling to join hands with CPI(M) to re-establish his links with grass roots and also to fill the credibility gap that he generated during his tenure.
The direction of YS Rajasekar Reddy lead Congress government is also more are less in the same direction. He is also now running in to clouds about the failure of TDP in acting in the interests of people as principle opposition party. Over these all four years TDP could not able to understand what exactly went wrong for it in the last elections. So he could not think over his policies except for the media consumption. Exactly in this situation Chiranjeevi came on to scene hoping to en-cash this failure of principle opposition party role. After two weeks of his launching the party, PRP representatives in Hyderabad declared that they need not to enter in to any electoral understandings to defeat Congress. In movies directors used to be behind the screen. Here also the main architect of PRP, Allu Aravind is behind the screen, true to his role as producer / director. But filming is different from politics. In film industry though the fans are not known to have aspirations beyond a point. But in politics, where each and every step relates to the daily public life, people’s aspirations, wants, beliefs are linked to their livelihood problems. Chiranjeevi could not provide any viable policy alternative to his credit. He is having fans linked mass base. The time will prove whether he will be able to impact by transforming this fans linked mass base in to a credible political base from where he has to re-launch himself as a serious contender for the power in the next elections.
As of now the situation looks like a multiparty contest in Telangana and triangular contest in other parts of the state. This is the first time the state is witnessing such a multiple contests across the state. This is the reason why I felt the next elections will be watershed in states political landscape.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
From South Dakota of USA to Araku Valley of Andhra
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: The Story behind the Unification of USA
The story of “Battle of Wounded Knee Creek” is very interesting and also we can draw several lessons from that about United States of America (USA). By now, USA has established itself as the second biggest democracy in the world but the establishment of USA itself has a major historical crunch in which we need to dwell into in order to understand its historical claims in reality.
There are so many stories, histories written about how the George Washington army ruthlessly annexed tribal lands in Northern American continent in its way to the formation of USA. As social science students at our high school we were told that there are three great revolutions in the world history. They are: Bloodless revolution of England, American Revolution, and French Revolution. All of them are part of evolution of modern democratic set up, we were told. And also were taught of the greatness of George Washington who commanded over the army of US in its liberation struggle. But there are two parts of US liberation struggle.
The first part is the struggle the up coming US nobility in the 13 Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America engaged with Great Britain and won independence to become United States of America. The world history threw heavy light on this development and marked it as a watershed in the evolution of modern democracy.
The second part comes from 1783 to 1890, when the newly formed USA gradually annexed the tribal states in its expansionist scheme to put place the USA what we are seeking today. The second part of the story of unification of America was not debated much in comparison to its first part.
I think, in the year 2000 when I was working as a social activist in Hyderabad I had a discussion with Com. Punyavati who happened at that time State Secretary of All India Democratic Women’s Association. Then I argued that USA does not have its own history, culture as we, and the other countries of eastern hemisphere have. Their so called culture is evolved only in about a century till now. In its emergence the behavior of USA towards its native tribal states and population gives an understanding about its nature. Since then, I kept on looking for new material, books which places my arguments in a sophisticated, structured manner. Finally I found in the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, something that I was exactly looking for. This is also a part of history of Civil War that threatened newly emerging American nation. This was is in between the already existing tribal nations and newly emerging American nation.
This not only proves my assumption that USA emerged only after brutal annexation of tribal people who are known as Red Indian tribes. For the outer world, the Western Sociology introduces Red Indians as a single tribe where as that was the nomenclature got significance after the Columbus’s discovery of American continent. Like in today’s India, in America also, there number of tribes such as Sioux, about which the present book deals.
This tribal nation enters in to an agreement called Fort Laramie Treaty 1868 there by shedding some land for the white settlements and reserving some land for the purpose of local tribal population’s utilization such as hunting, food collection as it happened to be a forest till that time. This is where for the first time I heard about the Geographical Reservation Policy, which might be a prelude to the reservation polices and affirmative actions which we have been experiencing in the 20th century.
The whole story revolves around how the US Congress and the local white senator acted in a deceitful manner while expanding the white settlements by violating the treaty they entered in to with the South Dakotan tribal nation Sioux. That means till the 19th century US is experiencing the tribal lives where hunting and other primary production modes are in operation and main forms of livelihood! By 19th century India has emerged in to a single nation physically, psychologically and also politically under the English colonialism.
This annexation of South Dakota also is about the gold rush which was found it those areas in 6th decade of 9th century. This gold rush prompted white rulers to expand the white settlements to these areas in order to justify the planned exploitation of gold mines. Now though it may be a disproportionate comparison, I will compare the Sioux annexation by US with the industrialization of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. In Araku to explore the Bauxite for industrial purpose, the government recently sanctioned environmental clearance for a joint venture for exploiting the Bauxite in Eastern Ghats which are famed for their natural beauty. This approval will also as in the case of Sioux tribe destroy the natural livelihood options of local tribal people. At least the imperial USA implemented some geographical reservation, though that could not avoid the war with the local tribes, the modern democratic governments of Andhra Pradesh and India are not providing for the same. The existing environmental laws mandate the government to provide alternative land (as in the case of Dakota) for the rehabilitation of those displaced due to this project. The governments are not coming forward to implement their own laws. Even though they may provide geographical reservation, they can explicate the natural settings of Araku Valley, thus the industrialist, capitalist greed paving way for the annexation of natural settings some times for its settlements and for some times for its profit !
Finally, perhaps as of US expertise in establishing white settlements (that lead to the emergence of USA as a modern nation), it is helping, guiding and also directing all necessary means to expand the Jewish settlements in Palestine lands where by destroying the Palestine Arabs as a nation as they had done with in the case of Red Indian Tribes !!!
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