T Chiranjeevulu, IAS (Retd)
Elections heat has caught up in the country. 18th Lok Sabha elections are going to be held in the month of April/May 2024. In one Telugu state assembly elections are already over and in another state likely to held in April/May 24. Which ever the Telugu state it might be, C.M s are invariably from two or three forward castes only
As per Mandal commission Report ,OBCs are 52% of the total population but their representation in Governance/Law making bodies is very negligible. OBCs did not get Reservation in Employment under Central Govt jobs till 1993 though Mandal Commission recommended it in 1980. Reservations in Central govt educational institutions were become true in 2006 only by 96 th Amendment to the constitution .There are no political reservations in legislative bodies for OBCs as in the case of SC/STs. Because of lack of political reservations their presence in law making bodies became nominal.
There are no Chie Ministers from OBC communities even after 76 years of independence.Today in the country almost all states had seen OBC CM except A.P. and Telangana. As of now in 7 major states there are OBC CMS . ( 1. U.P. 2 .MP. 3. Tamilnadu.4.Karnatka.5. Kerala. 6. Maharashtra .7 .Bihar)
Backdrop & case composition
So far 16 times Elections were held to State Assembly in Telangana region during the last 76 years .
The Caste and Seat Matrix as follows:
Source –Election records and various journals. Made as accurate as possible.
There were 16 C.Ms in Combined state of A.P . OUT of which 9 were from Reddis, 3 from Kammas ,1fromVelamas ,1fromBrahmins,1 from Vysyas, 1 from S.C.
In Erstwhile Hyderabad state 1 brahmin and in present Telangana state 1Reddi and 1 velama.
In present A.P 1 kamma,1 Reddy., Unfortunately not a single C.M. from OBCs.
The reasons for OBC s not becoming Chief ministers in Telangana state are many . But a few of them are
- Very poor representation of OBC MLAs in the Assembly as evidenced by above table. Hence became voiceless for pressing their demand for Chief Minister ship post
- Lack of unity and OBC conscuiosness among OBCs. There are 136 Castes in O.BCs. in Telangana. Most of these castes are in abject poverty , hand to mouth , politics is a big dream for them. Majority of these castes have not sent a single member to Assembly so far . Because of heterogeneity, high illiteracy rate, abject poverty, different socio-economic backgrounds , OBCs are not united and left behind in all fields . Though some OBC leaders started their own political parties they could not make any impact and survived for a longer period because of lack of this conscuiosness. There are few other reasons which have also acted against development of OBC conscuiosness and unity in the state.
A). Historical reasons. In Nizam state BCs , SCs,,STs were most oppressed, depressed and suppressed people. They were exploited ruthlessly in all forms and lived in subhuman conditions. People revolted against this injustices ,took to arms, waged war against Nizam under the aegis of Communist party from 1944 to 1948 ultimately liberating Hyderabad State and merging it with Indian union in 1948 on Sep 17 th. Communists have focused more on Class struggle rather than eradication of Caste in equalities. Most of their leadership was also came from forward castes only. Leadership was not transferred to weaker sections.OBCs became their followers only.
- Regionalism- AndhraPradesh state was formed in 1956 on linguistic basis by merging Telangana region with erstwhile Andhra state .The Telangana people were not happy with this merger and started agitation against combined state. This agitation was led by upper caste people and OBCs energies and mindsets were diverted to regionalism, instead of focusing on their upliftment and unity .
- Lack of Dravidian type movements in Telugu states. Tamilnadu has glorius Dravidian movements Leaders like E.V.Naicker popularily known as Periyar , C.Annadurai ,P.Theagaraya Chetty started this movements for the self respect of depressed class people . In Telugu states no such Dravidian movements to liberate the depressed classes and unite them. Tamilnadu is having 69% reservation both in Govt jobs and education and produced many OBC C.Ms because of this movements.
- D) Absence of Socialistic movements- Under the influence of Socialists like Jaya Prakash Narayana, Ram Manohar Lohia , in states like Bihar,U.P , OBCs emerged as important leaders and became Chief Ministers(Karpuri Thakuri n Bihar) and regional parties came in to existence under OBC Kansi Ram became mass leader for Daliths and Mulayam Singh Yadhav and Laloo Prasad Yadhav for OBC Communities. Demand for implementation of Mandal commission report gathered momentum and became true on account of these people pressure only.
- Formation of Telugu Desham Party. In 1982 Telugu Desham party was formed with an aim of self respect for Telugu people and came in to power in 1983. Many OBC communities joined the party but again OBCs were not given due representation.
F . Rise of Naxalism and Maosim- On account of failure of implementation of Land reforms, failure of first separate Telangan state movement during 1965 to 1969 , severe unemployment ,frustration among the people for their deprivations and no change in their lives , gave birth to this movement. From early 1980s up to 2010,many of the youth from SC/ST/OBC joined this movement and laid their lives but it has not resulted in any transfer of Power to Weaker sections State could suppress this movement with iron hand and again OBC cause became setback.
- Separarte State movement.- From 2001 onwards ,separate state movement came with renewed strength and spirit by participation of all sections (Sakala janulu) of the society . Many OBC youth sacrificed their lives (Sri kanta Chary, Nalla Parandhamulu etc) etc with a hope that their lives will transform in new state and justice social,economical,political will become reality. Though Separate State was formed in 2014 a decade ago , their hopes are belied and they are disillusioned once again
- Long rule of regional parties- Emergence of regional parties particularily T.D.P and B.R.S. under the leadership of forward caste people and their long rule acted against the interests of OBC C.M. The regional party T.D.P ruled from 1983 to 1989 and 1994 to 2004 (total 16 years and B.R.S from 2014 to 2024 (total 10 years).Since these are family led parties ,other person by passing family members becoming chief minister is beyond imagination. B.C leaders for their own survival supported these parties..
- Rise of 3 M s – From 1990 onwards role of Money, Muscle and Media has grown of substantially and became sina quo non for winning the elections. OBCs who are not having these became more vulnerable and fast loosing their percentage of seats . Even Brahmins, once a politically dominant community now pushed to bottom on account of lack of these 3 M s .
- Apathy of National party – The number of MP s from OBC communities in Parliament is very few. Hence all national parties are showing lukewarm approach to OBCs. Indian National Congress which ruled the Combined state of A.P state for about 50 years had ample opportunity to make OBC as C.M. They made a S.C. as C.M but not O.B.C. There are many stalwart OBC leaders were there at that time like Konda Laxman Bapuji ,P.Siva shanker, G.Rajaram, Sardar Gouthu Lacchanna ,Mallikarjun Goud and many more who were cent percent qualifies to become Chief Ministers.
The same is true with present Andhra Pradesh state except Armed Struggle against the Nizam, separate Telangana state movements. In combined state of A.P. OBC communities have experienced similar socio, economic ,political conditions and forward castes domination. In A.P. region also representation from OBC castes Is also quite meagre . Hence No C.M.s from this area also inspite of having prominent OBC leaders
Remedial measures needed
In view of the above it is crystal clear that remedial measures have to be taken up at once to fulfill the constitutional obligation of delivering Justice- Social, Economical ,Political to this oppressed castes majority people and also for creation of equitable, inclusive society.
First GOI to conduct OBC caste census on par with SC/STs duly making separate law so as to stand up to judicial scrutiny and shall provide reservations in legislative bodies as per their population or as per the judicial pronouncements. Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar once said political power is the Master key for the development of Bahujanas . It is their legitimate right to participate in the governance of this country to rewrite their own destiny.
In Telangana during the last 76 years witnessed many peoples movements one after another with the gap of 10 to 15 years. The Telangana mass psyche could not keep quiet when there are injustice in the society. So far many I ssues resolved through these agitations. Now the issue is social justice to OBCs is pending. Time is now ripe for all OBC s to unite and fight for their just share in political, economical, employment and educational fields.
OBCs in Telangana /A.P should not hesitate to form their own political Parties by taking inspiration from other states like Bihar, U.P, and Tamilnadu. They should unite and build the OBC consciousness among the masses so as to become a decisive force ,then only they will become chief ministers of the state. They should leave their subservient mentality , participate in politics actively and aggressively so as capture of the power. Then only the dream of Vikasit Bharat becomes true and democracy flourishes in this country.
( T Chiranjeevulu, IAS (Retired) is a socio-political commentator. He lives in Hyderabad, Telangana)
