Yet another political party in Telangana is Quixotic : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

 Yet another political party in Telangana is Quixotic

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

The Pioneer (17-04-2021)

Ahead of launching political party on July 8, as announced in her first public meeting in Khammam, former united AP Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s daughter and AP CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s sister YS Sharmila, on April 15, sat on fast in Hyderabad demanding among other things, employment to the youth in Telangana State. She declared that she would continue her agitation for the filling up of the government vacancies.

Everyone who keenly observed Sharmila’s political statements made so far referring to Telangana State, will undoubtedly come to a conclusion that she has absolutely no clue about the developed Telangana and the way it has been made as a role model by CM K Chandrashekhar Rao during the last seven years. She is merely hovering demands that have no essence, basis or even a shred of evidence. She has been just repeating the same baseless allegations made time and again by the so-called opposition parties and disgruntled persons as well as few so called intellectuals. They could not impress people at large with their allegation, the proof of which is, the results in election after election in the state. With Sharmila joining them, the opposition after all, has at best, one more self-proclaimed leader in vain.

With YS Sharmila getting ready to launch her own party in Telangana State, one should try to analyze unbiasedly on the viability of such a party whether it will make any gains electorally or otherwise in the state? So far, the reasons given by her on why she is launching a party has no immediate takers. At the Khammam public meeting she said she wants to question the present dispensation.

If that be so, Sharmila will go down in the political history of this country as the only person who launched a political party to merely question the state government. Which scheme, program or project that Sharmila prefers to question? Is it the mega Kaleshwaram project which is considered to be the man-made wonder in the world and which won accolades all over the globe? Will she question the government on why Telangana state, which was on the verge of power crisis, turned it around into a power supply State? Will she question the government on why it is providing quality, free power supply to the agriculture sector and providing uninterrupted power to all sectors? Will she question the KCR Kits program which is helping the pregnant women? Will she question the financial help to young women in all the communities for their marriage through Kalyan Laxmi and Shadi Mubarak schemes?

Will Sharmila question the government on why it is helping farmers through Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima? Will she question the government for totally eradicating the illicit liquor and playing cards clubs in the state? Will she question the government for financially helping all the hereditary professions? Will she question the creation of SHE teams? The list is endless. Unfortunately, for Sharmila she has not even a single program, policy or scheme which she can ever question? She will end up in search of a question that is nonexistent! In a vibrant democracy like ours, anybody can question the government and launching a political party can never be the reason for this.

Sharmila claims that she is the daughter-in-law of Telangana and that she was born and brought up here. No one questions her right to launch a political party but only wonder with what motives and underlying agenda she is launching the party. No political leader or anyone ever had been successful launching a political party all by himself or herself. In the past, leaders like Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, KE Krishnamurthy, Janareddy, Mudragada Padmanabham, Vijaya shanti, A Narendra, P Indrareddy, Devender Goud and a host of others launched the political outfits and wounded them up sooner or later.

At a time when national parties like the Congress and BJP are finding themselves to make any gains against the strong TRS in the State, what will Sharmila gain under these circumstances? In fact, there is no space where she can occupy in the political scenario in the state. Why should people or leaders from other political parties rally behind her? There is absolutely no sentiment or a great issue on which she can take a political ride. Telangana state will not require another political party as there are a dozen already in existence.

Since 1947, the Congress had a total control over the political scenario in the country till 1996, except in 1977-79 by Janata Party (Morarji Desai) and in 1989-90 by the Janata Dal led by VP Singh. But the actual turning point came in 1996. In the 1996 general elections people gave a fractured verdict. For the first time, the BJP dethroned Congress and Vajpayee became the prime minister for 13 days. After the BJP failed to pass a confidence motion, 13 regional parties formed the United Front that lasted two years. Since 1996, all central governments in Delhi have been coalition governments, either led by Congress or by BJP. Since then, the days of a single party forming the government at the center was over till 2019 when BJP led by Modi secured 303 seats.

A cursory look at the rise and success of the regional parties shows that their existence and ability to come to power had always based on mass issue or sentiment. In Tamil Nadu, the DMK and later AIDMK came to power and still exist drawing their strength from the Dravid movement. Parties like the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party came into being on the issues of SCs, STs, Minorities and the BCs, Telangana Rashtra Samithi born out of a people’s movement for the formation of a separate Telangana State. TDP came to power appealing to the Telugu pride and sentiment.  Parties like the CPI, CPM born out of the communist ideology while parties like the AIMIM and Akali Dal were formed based on the religion. AAP rode to power on the issue of statehood for Delhi. Sharmila’s party definitely does not fit into any of these categories.

What is really interesting is to find out from where funds come for these new outfits. The Election Commission which came under severe criticism for its working style may not find time or lack inclination to delve at length on from where the new political parties are getting their funds. Who will bell the Cat? But the question remains unanswered is, on what purpose she is launching the party, at whose behest and to gain what? One may find answer to these questions as time flies, but as on date, it is simply another attempt to launch a political party.

Such experiments of starting new political parties are nothing but quixotic and end up like Don Quixote de la Mancha as described in the Spanish novel Don Quixote, de la Mancha written by Miguel de Cervantes that tells the story of an imaginative nobleman, Alonso Quixano. (With VJM Divakar)