The decision by ‘megastar' Chiranjeevi to merge his Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) into the Congress(I) in New Delhi on February 6, has set the pace for some exciting times in Andhra Pradesh, which is facing multiple challenges on the political front as well as to its very existence as a single entity. The mergercould augur well for the Congress(I), which faces a serious threat to its Government and also has to deal with the larger issue of the possible bifurcation of South India's largest State.
Chiranjeevi, a hesitant entrant into politics, was expected to make a big mark on the State politics in the 2009 May elections. He however turned in a ‘flop' show, with just 18 legislators in the 294-member Legislative Assembly and drew a blank in the Parliamentary election.
Cong(I) dilemma
However, after the death of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (in September 2009), the Congress(I), which got a thin majority with 156 seats, has been on tenterhooks, lacking in leadership and unable to confront, on one side, the demands of YSR's son, Mr Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy who claimed a virtual succession to his late father, and on the other, the wave of agitations and calls for separate Statehood for Telangana raised by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief, Mr K. Chandrasekhara Rao, with the support of the students of Osmania and Kakatiya Universities.
In a bid to consolidate his Government in power, initial moves for an arrangement with PRP were started by the YSR-led Government itself. However, the sudden death of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the political uncertainty and the Telangana issue, forced Chiranjeevi to take a firm stand, in favour of a united State. In addition, with a small number of legislators, the filmstar-turned politician has been under pressure from the cadres and MLAs.
Right time
In this background, Chiranjeeviseems to have taken to easing the pressure with options of either joining the Congress(I) Government through bargaining or merger with some assurances from the latter. That he pitched for merger, citing the social justice plank of both the parties and the higher probability of making a greater impact through Congress(I) in the fluid situation, in a way indicates that he wants to satisfy his MLAs, give himself enough room to go back to movies (which he has been talking of late) and hope for a bigger role in Congress(I) in the near future.
For the Congress(I), the development has come in the right timeWith the State Budget session to start on February 17 and the possibility former Kadapa MP, Mr Jaganmohan Reddy floating a party and garnering MLAs from the N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Government looming large, PRP could offer the buffer. As it stands now, the Congress(I)- PRP together will have 173 seats which is 26 more than the requisite simple majority required to be in power.
Events moved fast since the Union Defence minister, Mr A.K. Antony, met Chiranjeevi last week at his residence with a proposal from the AICC Chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi. The meeting of Chiranjeevi with Ms Sonia on Sunday cemented the decisions.
In a way, the developments have thrown a formidable challenge to both Mr Jaganmohan Reddy, pro-Telengana TRS, as well as the group within the Congress(I) in favour of bifurcation of the State. Political analysts interpret the merger as an indication that the Congress(I) high command is not in the mood now to give in to the separate Statehood calls. There could also be a larger plan of tackling the Jagan factor, TRS and keep the Government going, as Andhra Pradesh with 33 MPs, remains the strongest State for the Congress(I) and can give strength to the precarious position it can be pushed given the political flux at the Centre. Unlike the Telugu Desam Party founded by N.T. Rama Rao in 1982, which was swept to power in Andhra Pradesh in 1983 and also made him a force to reckon at the national level, Chiranjeevi's PRP has turned out to be a short-lived (just three years), an also-ran in a State that adores film stars.
VOTE-CATCHING or bigger role?
The question now is what role will Chiranjeevi don or able to salvage in the grand old party of India. Given, its record of dumping rebels and political returnees as well as those who join it from outside, is the Congress(I) looking at projecting him as a vote-catcher, leader in the coastal region and of the large backward castes or give him a bigger role as Chiranjeevi must be harbouring?
While there have been mixed reactions to thisdevelopment , the TDP should be at least pleased. A major reason being in the May 2009 elections, the PRP proved to be its undoing in many constituencies, especially in its traditional stronghold of the coastal districts. With PRP merged with the Congress, it could be a straight contest the next time around.
For the moment, the three-month old Government led by Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy has to brace up to face some political stumbling blocks from the TDP and the lurking trouble from the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS), which can join forces with any party to push its agenda for a separate Telangana State.
Mr Kiran Reddy, pitch-forked to the Chair with the task of diminishing Jaganmohan's impact by virtue of his proximity to the late CM and, also hailing from the same Rayalaseema region, has begun to push the pet projects of Rajasekhara Reddy, starting with ‘ Arogyasree ' (health for poor) and now ‘ Rachabanda ' (providing instant solution to people's problems in villages through meetings), though he is confronting problems at several places.
The TDP Chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, facing stiff internal pressures from the MLAs from Telangana, has taken to highlighting problems of farmers, weavers, micro-finance borrowers and other mass issues to gain public support, while trying to continue his stand that both Telangana and coastal Andhra are equally important for his party.