Articles
Promoting Dependence
Dt: 8 /4/19
Promoting Dependence
Dr T H Chowdary*
Beginning in 1952 in what is now Andhra Pradesh, the election to the State Assembly in 2014 is the 15th . In the first three elections 1952, 56 & 57 main contenders were the Congress and the Communist Parties. The latter lost very heavily in 1956 and 1957 and by now with so many splits, there are 4 communist parties in AP. Communists are a totally spent force since 1967; they could be characterized as statement parties of India . Eexcepting with the BJP, they have allied themselves with every other party in the state. So they could be characterized as remnants of a failed ideology and party. The Congress party has been characterized with ever increasing corruption. From the 1960s onwards, no Congress Chief Minister in AP was in power for a full term. Each one of them was undermined by a leader of a faction which found favour with the High Command, mostly Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Sri N T Rama Rao demolished the Congress hold on power for 31 years. He was sought to be undermined through the governor Ram Lal by Indira Gandhi but as never before in the history of any State Assembly in this country, the Chief Minster who was conspiratorially and illegally removed from Chief Minstership was restored by popular agitation. Sri Rama Rao was backstabbed a second time but this time, by his own son-in-law Sri Chandra Babu Naidu in 1995. Since that time the politics in the Telugu states had become thoroughly unprincipled, with ever increasing role for black money in garnering votes. The amount of money spent by the principal parties the Telugu Desam and Congress had been increasing with every election. The candidates of the principal parties are having to spend upto Rs. 40 cr each to humor and attract the votes. No wonder that the wealth of MLAs seeking re-election after 5 years had gone up 5-10 times within the 5- year period. They have to earn what they spent in this election; and much more has to be gain for spending in the next election and also for savings as accumulated wealth .
In the previous elections, the candidates were spending their out black money beyond the limits prescribed by the Election Commission. It was their ill -gotten wealth. But in the 2014 elections, Sri Chandra Babu Naidu has set a new pattern . He is spending government money in the name of various welfare schemes, each one named after himself. In the process every canon of morality and legality is sprouted and most evil ideas are introduced into the election . Some of these are obviously immoral and destructive of the work ethic and promotive of the peoples’ dependence on government for living and enjoying.
2. As example of brazen bribing of voters is the Chandranna Pasupu Kumkamuulu . Under this “welfare” scheme, he credited government money to about 90 lakh women members’ of DWACRA groups, Rs.20,000/- each into their bank accounts a few weeks before elections. That is Rs.18,000cr spent to humor the women voters. In addition, to these 90 lakh women he has given smart phones . He has promised that if he is re- elected, during his next 5 years tenure he would distribute Chandranna Pasupu Kumkamuu three times. That is he is going to give an additional Rs. 60,000 each to 90 lakh women voter members of the DWACRA groups. He distributed tools and implements for those in traditional professions – rajaks (washermen), toddy- tappers, darjis, potters, barbers, weavers etc. A few months before elections, he started giving Rs.1000 to every “unemployed person” with intermediate and above educational qualifications . Actually these became the ruling TDP’s paid canvassers. He increased the grant of government money for the construction of churches from Rs.3 lakhs to 5 lakhs each and under this scheme, over 600 government - funded churches were constructed in the last five years . He increased the grant of Rs. 25,000 for Christians for their pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land to Rs.40,000 and a few months before elections Rs. 75,000 per perosn. For the construction of Christian Bhavan he gave Rs.10 cr and 3 acres of land in Amaravati, land acquired from farmers for the capital. He started paying Rs. 5000 per month to Imams and Rs. 3000 per month to Muezzins. He has now promised to increase them to tr. 10,000 and 5,000 respectively. During his tenure as CM of the undivided state, he constructed a Haj House in Hyderabad on government land (and a second one near the new airport in Shamshabad). This by the successor Congress government). In the remnant AP he has funded Rs. 80cr for the construction of a 12 storeyed Haj House and another RS.10 cr Haj House in Kadapa . He publicly declared that he is the only CM in the country who has funded the construction of three Haj Houses. He gave a grant of Rs. 10.5 cr to an international Islamic gathering Alami Tabligi Ijtena in Kurnool in Dec 2018. Besides he funded the construction of Urdu Ghars and Shadi Khanas exclusively for Muslims. He got organized a mammoth meeting of Muslims under the slogan, Nara Hamara – TDP Hamara- Nara is the surname of Sri Chandra Babu Naidu ; in Hindi it means slogan . He promised the Muslim gathering that he would introduce especial legislation to prevent atrocities by Hindus on Muslims ! He has for the first time in the country created welfare corporations caste and religion wise. – kapus, Brahmins, Vysyas, , SCs, STs, Muslims, Christians . Failing to get the kapus as BCs, he created a Kapu Welfare Corporation and a Kapu Bhavan. When the constitution was amended to provide 10% reservation for the poor among the FCs he passed legislation to give them 5% reservation elevating kapus from BC to FC poor. He has been giving for women Chandranna Pendli Kanukalu at the time of marriage. The amount depends upon the caste and religion of the brides, a caste as well as communalism promoting practice .
3. Bypassing all government agencies and officers he launched the Janmabhoomi (Motherland) program for the development of rural areas. The janmabhoomi committees are filled up with TDP workers. Government gave to them funds executing the rural “development”- programs. There is absolutely no talk of measures for improvement of public health and education. More than 50% of the children and young are not in government schools or colleges but in private corporate educational institutions;. A person running the largest number colleges and corporate schools is a minister and the second largest owner of corporate schools and colleges is the minister for education. Those business men who funded the TDP during its ten-year long existence as the opposition party are sent to the Rajya Sabha as MPS. After bifurcation, AP started with a debt of Rs 96,000 cr. It has ballooned to Rs. 2,50,000cr. Besides, the state government has giving guarantees for loans amounting into Rs. 98,000 cr taken by several special purpose vehicles Chandra Babu Naidu created for various works . The state’s debt has gone up from R.s 96, 000cr effectively to 3,500,000 cr. in 5 years. One can imagine what a burden this is ob the six crore people of AP, each person carrying a debt burden of Rs. 60,000. Sri Chandra Babu Naidu ’s tune has totally changed . He is now saying , : “ I have given you water , I have given you house, I have given you marriage gifts and I have given you festival gifs, I have given you free electricity, I have given you roads, dowries. I have given you implements and am delivering entertainment through optical fiber cables. You must therefore give your vote to me. I am your elder son. Your future is in my hands. “….this is the substance of his election speeches.
4. There is not a single party in the two Telugu states with which Babu’s TDP has not been in alliance at every election that he fought. He was with the BJP in 1999,2004 and 2014 with communist party in 2009 , and TRS and now he is cosying upto the Congress; he extensively campaigned for the Congress — TDP alliance in Telangana. The TDP was routed in Telangana; got two seats and his ally Congress got 19 of whom 10 already have defected to the TRS. As he has mesmerized the Telugu people in AP with the swan song of that the Modi government has not given “special status”, that it has not implemented the provisions in the law dividing the state to create Telangana . He is calling Modi a traitor . He is now holding up the TRS in particular its supremo Sri K Chandra Sekhara Rao as a conspirator, funding the opposition parties in AP to defeat the TDP. He campaigned in the company of Congress in Telangana’s elections to the Legislative Assembly against the TRS. He has the right and he was right to campaign against the TRS in the company of the Congress but the TRS has no right to campaign against him or to assist the parties opposing him in AP. He calls himself “national president” of the TDP. His son is “national secretary” of the TDP. It beats one’s imagination as to how the TDP confined the remnant AP is a national party and what following his son and his party have across the nation.
5 It appears that power has gone to his head . During his tenure as the CM of the undivided state in 1994-2004, he was a different man devoted to true economic and moral development of the state. He exhorted people to work hard and telling them that wealth can be created only out of entrepreneurship, education and hard work. He promoted two child-norm. How he is exhorting people to have more children. At that time, his son was only a boy. By now his son is grownup . He is made the national Secretary of the TDP and he is got into the Legislative Council and made a minister and leader of AP’s team to the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2018. Sri Chandra Babu wants to anoint him as his successor but the son does not seem to measure up to be a wise or capable politician. The love for the son Duryodhana had made the father, Dhrutarashtra an accomplice to every evil act of the son, and that lead to the destruction of the clan. In the process, he has resorted to unbridled populism combined with the evil practice of spending government money to buy votes, he demands that in return for the gifts he is showering (from borrowed money) they should love him and his party and return him to power. He is naming welfare schemes and gifts, after himself . No other politician (except to some extent his counterpart in Telangana) has ever done in any state in this country since Independence. There is a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) in the Supreme Court demanding that the amount that Mayawati spent as the CM of UP in installing her statues and the statues of elephant, her party’s symbol, should be recovered from her as that was misappropriation of people’s money for an individuals’ glorification . Sri Chandra Babu Naidu has also various schemes and give -aways named after himself; he has spent the borrowed money to build up his own image by investing that money as kanukas that is, gifts among women, the unemployed and the traditional professionals and so on. There is already a petition to the Election Commission in this regard. May be, this will be followed by a PIL in the Supreme Court.
6. Finally, it is tragic that a person who was held up and hails as the exemplar politician committed to the true economic and ethical development of people, exhorting them to work hard, promoting work ethic, and planned families and denouncing dependence upon government for give-aways and do has descended to the despicable depths f distribution of government money to buy votes.
AP is Ananda Pradesh
(Progressing towards Brahmananda Pradesh)
The “senior most” politician, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri N Chandra Babu Naidu has miraculously transformed the AP state into Ananda Pradesh within the historically short period of five years 2004-‘19. The life of two young persons from the poorest Samajika Varga ( current fashionable name for kulam or caste) illustrates /testifies to this transformation.
Suresh and Bhavana completed their B.Tech at no cost - what with fee-reimbursement and the parents getting several social welfare benefits with their white ration card , Aarogysree health card ……
· Like lakhs of young persons, these two are unemployed. So, each one is getting Rs. 2000 per month as unemployment dole .
· They got married .Under Chandranna Kalyanamastu program, the girl got Rs. 50,000 as marriage gift.
· They applied for and got a 2BHK house, free, one of the 19 lakh such houses built within the record period of 4.5 years(2014-19) .
· Each applied and got a MUDRA loan of Rs. 15 laksh each without any surety, a gift from the central government.
· The lady very thoughtfully enrolled herself into a DWACRA group. Her group got an outright Chandranna gift of Rupees one lakh.
· Also, to her bank account are credited Rs. 10,000 as Chandranna Pasupu Kumkumalu .
· Chandranna has promised, that in his next term (2019-2024) as C.M, would gift three Pasupu Kumkamulu (Rs. 60,000).
· She got a smart phone free. (90,000 of them were imported at a declared price of Rs. 4000 each while the imported Chinese smart phone was paid for by the GOAP at Rs. 1000 per piece. Rs. 3000 per piece; or Rs. 270 cr went to the cash chest of the party running the government ).
· For food the couple has to spend almost nothing. They go to the Rs. 5 /-per meal Anna Canteens.
· They have the Chandranna health insurance policies for accident and life.
· As they are poor and unemployed couple they, will get per month 100 units of free electricity.
· Thrice in a year they get festival kanukalu worth about Rs. 450 per occasion . Sankranti, Ramzan and Christmas.
· When Bhavana gets pregnant , government of AP celebrates her Seemantham in a group activity and she gets nutritious food so that she delivers a healthy robust baby ( a future voter)
· With so much, so graciously bestowed on the poor by the pioneering Chief Minister, life for the poor is so cheerful, so painless as the visionary Chief Minister had transformed Andhra Pradesh into Ananda Pradesh.
· On the way for realizations are the targets : within three years the per capita income in Ananda Pradesh will be double that of the all India average; the state will become Paramananda Pradesh .
· In another 5 years, it will be equal to that in the USA or Singapore and AP will become Brahmananda Pradesh .
The slogan for the 2014 election was
“Babu vaste, job vastundi” –
if Babu wins, jobs will come.
But better than job and work
Is life with all-free in Andhra Pradesh
(2545 words)
END