Long back in 2008, I was introduced to ‘Dialectic Materialism’ by one of my favourite Professors. I was instantly attracted to it. “The basic idea of dialectical materialism is that every economic order grows to a state of maximum efficiency, while at the same time developing internal contradictions or weaknesses that contribute to its decay”. When the Telangana movement erupted in November 2009, the first thing that came across my mind was this aspect of Marxism albeit in a different perspective.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) contested 2009 elections as part of a ‘Grand Alliance’. It received a drubbing from the Telangana voters. However, by that decision, Telangana movement got strengthened almost to a point of no return in the way to achieving Statehood. Many criticized TRS of dillydallying with its partners and some critics even branded its acts as power mongering. TRS, probably, saw the most formidable hurdle in the way to the new State in Late. YSR and the desperate Babu was all ready for an alliance with TRS. Many predicted a landslide victory for ‘Grand Alliance’. Results to the contrary made Late YSR an undisputed leader of AP. The victorious YSR several times belittled TRS legislators - notably Etela Rajender - in the heart of the Assembly. He cleverly twisted his ambiguous stand ‘We are not against Telangana’ to ‘people of Telangana gave the verdict in favour of development than to a separate State’. And the subservient Telangana congress leaders echoed unashamedly. It was the time when Telangana proponents’ confidence reached a new nadir and the chances of Telangana formation looked most bleak! Late YSR, unarguably most anti-Telangana reigned supreme!
He built his empire on economic skullduggery – every sane economist warned that the ‘welfare schemes’ he ‘heroically’ introduced were unsustainable - and on a network of extremely corrupt and coercive forces. It was the time of ‘Give and Take’ – or shall I say ‘Surrender/Submit and Take’. For Telangana it meant ‘surrender Telangana demand at His ‘lotus’ feet and take a contract or two’. It was an order that made even the most optimistic lot of Telangana State proponents resign! The order reached a state of maximum efficiency by 2009.
God knows what turns history would have taken had that unfortunate, untimely death of YSR did not take place! There is little doubt, though, at hindsight, that history did take a favourable turn for Telangana! Even the hardcore ‘Samaikyandhra’ supporter agrees to this, I guess! And the internal contradictions of this seemingly infallible order - both of economic and political - now come to surface! I feel the Congress High Command – which believes in the theory of whole (i.e. itself), is much, much bigger than the constituent parts (state leaders) – probably saw it as God-sent opportunity to reestablish its own order of ‘I will, you follow’.
On the other hand, the economic and political order that was in vogue demanded a leader of the same mold as Mr. YSR. However, the contradictions – extreme corruption, coercion, blasphemous stance towards the High Command, debilitating economy and most importantly the pernicious attitude towards Telangana Statehood demand – by now have become too powerful! The desperation and the extreme greed were all evident inside 24 hours of YSR’s death! It was a tight fix for them to be out of power or at least not being able to wield the same unbridled power as before! And by now, many of the lesser mortals went too far ahead with the builders of this order and it was suicidal for them to take any route other than this!
Then came the Telangana movement’s hour of success! Central government announced that the ‘process of Telangana State formation will be initiated’ after KCR’s brave fast and the subsequent agitation that is unprecedented in the history of the region. Now, the plutocrats of the Seemandhra began doing what they know the best – the lobbying! It’s a long and familiar history of how the December 9th statement got progressively diluted in December 23rd and January 5th, 2010 statements. But, Telangana showed unprecedented maturity and intensity complicating the job of the Centre. At the same time the hide and seek game for the power by the ‘yuva neta’ also continued unabated! Finding itself in a tight spot, the High Command became clueless!
The Centre had to deal with two extremely potent issues at the same time. The open defiance of a ‘shortsighted’ young leader and his hapless followers and the unwavering agitation for Telangana State. The High Command wanted one of these to take a natural death! However, that was not to be! The support for the leader, though not as explicit as in the beginning, still was considerable. And the movement only got stronger by the day. When the young leader decided to take head-on, the High Command had to take a stand. Also Telangana was staring at its face! They bought some time by forming an absolutely comic committee, but to no avail!
But, the High Command today is in a desperate position to take a decision! And that means it should forego, politically, one of the two regions – Telangana or Seemandhra! It was proved before that Seemandhra people do not vehemently oppose Telangana formation; the same could not be said about Telangana people though. So the question boils down to 'how much damage the young leader can inflict on the Congress party in that region'. Today’s by-election could be a pointer to that. If the young leader drubs the Congress, it may go ahead with its proposed State formation thereby checking his influence from spreading to Telangana! The sight of young leader holding ‘Samaikyandhra’ placards with the opposition TDP MPs is still fresh in the memory of Telangana people. And the ‘yuva neta’ did not do enough to come clean on this charge that he is anti-Telangana like his father was. So his influence can be restricted in Telangana if Statehood is granted. Contrarily, and this looks highly unlikely to me, if Congress wins or reduces the winning margin of the ‘yuva neta’, the ‘yuva neta’ may be forced to toe a pro-Telangana stand to further malign the Centre. There were already some indications to this effect. That may mean too many hot potatoes for the Centre to handle! Either way the formation of Telangana State is the only option the Centre will be left with!!
Telangana (not just the demand for a State) suffered the most under YSR’s regime. His specious but pernicious anti-Telangana attitude was evident many a time. He built an order that was draining Telangana resources like never before into the pockets of neo-capitalists! But the same order after his demise began to develop cracks in the form of his own son and his gang of greedy and desperate politicians, a High Command whose ego was hurt beyond repair and most importantly the enraged Telangana region waiting for the first opportunity to throw off the Andhra capitalist yoke. There may be unexpected twists to this story once the result for the Kadapa by-poll is out. But one thing is certain. The son of a leader who is known for his anti-Telangana Statehood stance is forcing the Centre to take a call on this long pending demand. Or I will put it this way – The most ardent opponent of Telangana Statehood had sowed the seeds of greed, opportunism and coercion that are now forcing the Centre to expedite the process of forming Telangana State! That is dialectics as I understood in this entire episode!
Madhav
( PS: I am not a political science student. Whatever I wrote is just a layman's observation of things happening around.)
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