Will Sharmila Show Any Impact In Telangana Politics?

Sharmila’s political entry has certainly ruffled many a feather in Telangana state politics with media and social media equally agog with the much-hyped political event. Notwithstanding the claims and counterclaims on whom might have scripted the new political soap opera, the fact remains is that yet another political entity competes in the choked political space in the newly formed state.

It is true that DR.YS.Rajasekhara Reddy has a considerable number of admirers in Telangana too. Even amidst the movement for a separate state, congress led by Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the unflinching integrationist could secure as many as 50 seats with the TRS confined to only ten seats in the Telangana region in 2009 assembly elections. Perhaps, this might be the hope for the political progeny of YSR.

But, the political idiom has substantially altered as the state got bifurcated. The movement for a separate state was fought on Telangana identity strongly confronting dominance of the Seemaandhra region in the social, economical, and political landscape of the united state. This is precisely the reason that the Telangana movement has substantially mitigated the influence of parties led by seemandhra leaders in the changed political milieu of Telangana.

The TDP which has relatively fared well in the 2014 elections could not retain its hold. The party had suffered progressive erosion of its support base, though its supremo N Chandrababu Naidu enjoys considerable admiration in the Telangana region too, especially in the urban areas due to his tryst with information technology. The TDP’s political patronage to backward classes helped it to garner a strong support base in Telangana too. But, all this withered away as the state got divided.

The YSR Congress which too contested in the 2014 elections was confined to the Khammam district alone. Subsequently, the party confined itself to the residuary Andhra Pradesh. Even Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam could win only one seat in the Telangana region against 17 in Andhra Pradesh.

The experience in other states also reveals that the political landscape undergoes a change post bifurcation. The Samajwadi party failed to penetrate Uttarakhand after the state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, the RJ(D) and JD(U) are not major political players in Jharkhand after the state was carved out of Bihar.

Besides, the TRS is challenged by both Congress and BJP. Congress still has a strong presence while the BJP’s political clout substantially improved in the recent past. Given this crowded political space, it will not be smooth sailing for YS Sharmila in the political waters of Telangana. Yet, politics have a strange tendency to spring surprises.

By Prof K. Nageshwar

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