Imagine Jayalalitha (erstwhile Chief Minister of Tamil
Nadu) fielding her own candidates and campaigning in Karnataka Assembly elections!
Anyone who understands the political history of
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would find such a scenario silly, weird and even
dangerous. The reason is: unlike two
friendly neighbours such as Odisha and West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
have serious issues over sharing of river waters, and those burning topic
brings people regularly onto streets in protests. Therefore, Jayalalitha fielding her
candidates in Karnataka would be seen as hegemonistic, a way of entering
Karnataka politics to subvert the political system, only to gain something for
her own Tamil Nadu State. It would
undermine the democracy within Karnataka.
Such a scenario is unlikely. Jayalalitha
would never have campaigned in Karnataka.
And yet, today, we see such unlikely scenario
happening in Telangana.
There are two essential reasons why Naidu campaigning
in Telangana is not just downright amoral, but is sinister, and a threat of
democracy within Telangana.
The rivalry between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is an
accepted fact. Almost every political pundit knows about
it. There are many unresolved issues pending
from the bifurcation, many corporations are still undivided, and most
importantly, there is this issue of sharing of river waters. Whenever Telangana moved ahead to build an
irrigation project within Telangana to tap into their rightful share of river
water, Naidu has objected to it by writing a letter to the Central
Government. He has demonstrated that he unequivocally
stands against the interests of Telangana and its people. Therefore, such a leader, from the
neighbouring state which is unfriendly, to come to Telangana to position his candidates
and campaign has only agenda: it is a subversive attempt to undermine the
interests of Telangana, an attempt to tamper into the democratic process within
Telangana to unfairly gain something for Andhra Pradesh.
Also, when Telangana State formation was announced on
9th December 2009 by P Chidambaram, it was Naidu and his MPs and
MLAs who stood against the formation of Telangana by protesting openly. Naidu was one of the main leaders of the
opposition to formation of Telangana. He sat on a strike in Delhi openly opposing
the formation of Telangana. After the
bifurcation, he used his clout as a partner in NDA to steal few of the mandals
from Telangana, which were then merged with Andhra Pradesh. He blatantly took the position of opposing the
interests of Telangana. Therefore his campaign
in Telangana once again shows the same arrogance of the Andhra leadership, the
very leadership Telangana fought against to form a new State. His
interests are antithetical to interests of Telangana.
His campaign in Telangana is not just amoral and
sinister, but it is hegemonistic and in every aspect completely anti-Telangana.
It should be summarily rejected by the
people of Telangana.
