Presently, the Telugu states are dominated by high profile political families and their power-hungry attitude made them to adopt the dynastic politics. Real democracy has no place for dynastic politics or familial rule. Yet, the political situation today is such that people will have to countenance the rule, whatever its nature, they are unabashedly perpetuating dynastic politics or familial rule impose.
Particularly regional parties, led mostly by one family, are paving the way for dynastic rule, irrespective of the sentiments of people. Hence, even those regional political outfits that took birth for the ‘noble cause’ of putting an end to undemocratic decades-long single-party rule have become promoters of dynastic rule.
The grand old Congress party has been the quintessence of dynastic rule, be it at the national level or in the Assemblies of several states, as it had allowed the promotion of kith and kin of MLAs or MPs.
In the event of the death of a serving member of the legislature, the party leadership immediately depended on that members’ family with a view to utilise the sympathy factor associated with the electorate!
Fielding of the kith and kin of deceased members in bypolls can be acceptable only in cases where the member concerned was killed in extremists’ violence or a tragic accident. But now family members, like spouse and children, think that it is their right to be fielded from the same seat in the event of a member’s death.
Curiously, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) too adopted the same line by fielding wives of their MLAs on two occasions. Prominent Communist leader and legislator Gunturu Bapanayya (CPI-M) of Nidumolu (SC) constituency (now Pamarru-SC) of Krishna district died of illness within two months of his election in March, 1978. His wife Dhanasuryavati was given the ticket by the party and she won with comfortable margin because of the sympathy wave. Another MLA of CPI-M, Putumbaka Venkatapathi (Sattenapalli) of Guntur district, died in the middle of the tenure and his wife P. Bharati got elected in the bypolls in 9th House (1994-99) of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
While regional parties are fine with the dynastic rule at the local level; when it comes to the national level, parties like Communists and BJP are professedly against promoting familial rule.
It is here that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has deviated from its declared path.
However, Telugu Desam Party, TRS and the YSR Congress are committed to fielding family members.
Communist Party of India (CPI) legislator Razab Ali, who was elected from the Sujatha Nagar constituency of Khammam district in 1994, died of illness in 1996.
Surprisingly, people rejected CPI in the bypolls and voted in favour of Congress candidate R.Venkata Reddy. What happened here is that the Congress candidate could get sympathy of electorate as he had previously lost to deceased Razab Ali.
The same kind of by-election held in Jagitial of Karimnagar District boosted the morale of the Congress in the state. The Jagitial bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of then legislator L. Ramana (TDP) as he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Karimnagar in 1996.
In the bypolls of Jagitial, former minister T. Jeevan Reddy registered a stunning victory with a margin of 56,000 votes. In the subsequent mid-term Lok Sabha polls, then BJP floor leader in APLA Ch. Vidyasagar Rao got elected from the Karimnagar LS seat, following which a by-election was necessitated for the Metpalli Assembly segment in 1998. It was a great surprise to all as Congress candidate Komireddi Jyoti Devi emerged victorious in that bypolls.
In some cases, poli’tricks’ were played by political players. There was a by-election for the Kovur constituency of Nellore district in 1993. Ruling Congress MLA Nallapureddy Srinivasulu Reddy died of illness.
Even before the Congress could take a decision on the possible candidature of Srinivasulu Reddy’s son Prasanna Kumar Reddy; TDP swung into action, got him, brought him into its fold, and finally made him the candidate. That was the time when principal opposition party TDP, led by N.T. Rama Rao, was gearing up for the coming year’s Assembly polls. Prasanna registered a stunning victory, with opposition benefiting from the sympathy factor.
In the Dubbak Assembly bypolls in Telangana state, necessitated by the death of TRS MLA S. Ramachandra Reddy, his wife was given the ticket. But people rejected the ruling TRS by electing BJP nominee Raghunandan Rao. In the Nagarjuna Sagar bypolls, TRS moved in a calculated manner to get the sympathy vote for its candidate Nomula Bhagat, following the death of his father Nomula Narasimhayya, former CPI(M) floor leader in erstwhile APLA who joined TRS later. The ruling TRS had the last laugh at the Huzurnagar bypolls in Nalgonda district by grabbing the seat from the Congress.
But in the subsequent Huzurabad bypolls in Karimnagar district, Etala Rajendar, who had won earlier on TRS ticket, got elected on BJP ticket by giving a very big shock to the ruling party. At this place also, awareness among voters is visible; for, they did not get carried away by welfare measures, including ‘Dalit Bandhu’, under which each Dalit family would get Rs.10 lakh.
Former MP and then AP Congress Committee president M. Satyanarayana Rao made adverse comments on TDP for fielding the wife of deceased MLA in a bypoll. Following the death of then MLA Anne Babu Rao (Vuyyuru), now Penamaluru, of Krishna district in the year 2000, TDP leadership had given the ticket to his wife Vijayalakshmi. M. Satyanarayana Rao had remarked that it was not good to give tickets to wives in the event of death of their husbands.
His detractors in the Congress party complained to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, causing him mental agony. In the bypolls for Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency, ruling YSR Congress decided not field the son of deceased MP Dr. N. Sivaprasad and selected Dr. Gurumurthy who had worked as physiotherapist for party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy during his padayatra.
Although sympathy was not an issue here, the ruling party candidate won with comfortable margin. It’s different matter that Dr. Sivaprasad ‘s son was made MLC later. The party may not act on the same lines in the case of the upcoming Atmakur bypoll, necessitated by the demise of IT and Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy.
Nowadays, it has became a rule that dominated political parties bigwigs families rule the roost with more intensity and dedication to follow the dynastic political power. #KhabarLive #hydnews
