Democratic Process and Electoral Politics in Andhra Pradesh, India
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Working Paper 180 Democratic Process and Electoral Politics in Andhra Pradesh, India K. C. Suri September 2002 Overseas Development Institute 111 Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7JD UK ii ISBN 0 85003 613 5 © Overseas Development Institute 2002 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. iii Contents Acknowledgements iv Glossary v Acronyms and Abbreviations vii 1 Introduction 1 2 Andhra Pradesh: A Profile 4 2.1 Nature and environment 5 2.2 Population characteristics 6 2.3 Economy 7 2.4 Society 9 3 An Outline of Politics and Elections in Andhra and Telengana prior to the Formation of Andhra Pradesh 13 3.1 Politics in Andhra Region (1947–1956) 13 3.2 Politics in Telengana Region (1947–1956) 15 4 The Era of Congress Dominance (1957–1982) 17 5 Emergence of the Telugu Desam Party: Politics of Populism and Confrontation 25 6 Politics of Pragmatism 37 7 Elections to the Panchayati Raj Bodies (2001) 46 8 Conclusion 56 Appendix 73 Select Bibliography 79 List of Tables Table 1 Results of Vidhan Sabha Elections: Seats won and percentage of votes secured by major political parties in the Vidhan Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, 1952–1978 73 Table 2 Results of Lok Sabha Elections: Seats won and percentage of votes secured by major political parties in the Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, 1957–1980 74 Table 3 Results of Vidhan Sabha Elections: Seats won and percentage of votes secured by major political parties in the Vidhan Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, 1983–1999 75 Table 4 Results of Lok Sabha Elections: Seats won and percentage of votes secured by major political parties in the Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, 1984–1999 75 Table 5 Who Voted Whom in Andhra Pradesh 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha Elections 76 Table 6 Who Voted Whom in Andhra Pradesh 1999 Lok Sabha Elections 77 Table 7 Results of the elections to ZPTCs, MPTCs, and Mandal Presidents, 2001 and the seats won by various political parties in the 1995 Panchayat elections 78 Table 8 Percentage of valid votes secured by major political parties in the three regions of the State in the Panchayat elections, 2001 78 iv Acknowledgements This Working Paper is part of the Livelihoods Options research in South Asia, which is implemented by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London. I would like to thank Prof James Manor for suggesting that I should undertake this study. I would also like to thank Dr John Farrington, Rural Policy and Environment Group at ODI and Dr Craig Johnson, UK Research Coordinator, Livelihood Options Project, with whom I had preliminary discussions on the possibility of this study. Dr Craig Johnson indicated the broad parameters for the Paper. He read the draft with great care and supplied critical comments. Dr Priya Deshingkar, Andhra Pradesh Research Director of the project, and Sri V. Anji Reddy, Lecturer in Political Science, Hindu College, Guntur, read the draft and gave their comments. The queries from Ms Rachel Bishop, editor for ODI, were extremely helpful in identifying certain gaps and refining the style of the text. K. C. Suri works at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Nagarjuna University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: [email protected] v Glossary Andhra Kesari Literally, ‘Lion of Andhra’; name given to the legendary Tanguturi Prakasam, leader of a Congress Party faction and founder of the Praja Party Amma Mother Anicuts Irrigation systems Anna Elder brother Arrack Cheap liquor, distilled usually from molasses Bahujans Literally, ‘the underprivileged multitude’. The concept includes people who belong to backward castes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities. It is now mostly used by the BSP and refers to dalits Bandh Total strikes Benami Fictitious names Bhiksha Alms Crore A unit of ten million (10,000,000) Dalit A member of the caste of Harijans or ‘untouchables’; in Sanskrit, ‘depressed’ Dalit Maha Saba A socio-political organisation of the dalits Deepam Light Desam Land, nation Dharma Yuddham A war for justice Dharna Sit-in strike Dwijas Twice-born castes Garibi Hatao Banish poverty Gram Village Gram Panchayat Village Council Grama Sachivalayam Village Secretariat Jagirdari System A type of land revenue system in Mughal India and later in Nizam’s Hyderabad State, in which the jagirdar was technically the holder of an assignment of revenue Jagirdars, Muktedars and Feudatory chiefs Deshmukhs Jai Congress, Jai Telengana Victory to the Congress, victory to Telengana Janmabhoomi Programme A people-centred participatory development process Kapunadu Conference of the Kapus Karnam Village officer in charge of land records (Andhra region) Kshamaseema Literally, ‘stalking ground of famines’ Lakh A unit of one-hundred thousand (100,000) Lathi A long heavy wooden stick used as a weapon Lok Sabha The lower chamber of India’s Parliament; in Hindi, ‘people’s assembly’ Mahanadu The TDP annual conference Mahila Bank Women’s bank Mandal Territorial and administrative unit (with a population of about 50,000 to 70,000) between the village and district levels Mandal Parishad Intermediate level council in the Panchayati Raj system, made up of the heads of the Panchayats and representatives of the territorial constituencies (MPTCs) within the Mandal Swarnandhrapradesh Golden Andhra Pradesh vi Munsif Village headman (Andhra region) Paligars Chiefs of large territories until the early 19th century, found mostly in the southern region of Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh Panchayat An institution of self-government for the rural areas Panchayati Raj System of local rural self-government with a three-tier structure, the units being the village, mandal and district councils Panchayati Samithi A middle-level unit of rural local government existing prior to 1986, made up of the heads of village Panchayats Patel Village headman (Telengana region) Patwari Village officer in charge of land records (Telengana region) Praja Deevena Programme Literally, ‘people’s blessing’; a programme initiated by the TDP to recruit intellectuals and professionals into the party Prajala Mungita Palana Government at People’s Doorstep Pukka Properly constructed; houses constructed with bricks and cement Raat-Ki-Sarkar Rulers at night Raj Rule Rajya Sabha The upper chamber of India’s Parliament; in Hindi, ‘States assembly’ Reddy Raj Rule by the Reddis, a term used to describe the Congress rule from the 1960s to early 1980s Samithi An association, especially one formed to organise political activity Samrakshana Protection Sarpanch Head of a Panchayat Sukhibhava Literally, ‘blessing’; a programme to provide government support to post-natal women Tatkal Literally, ‘immediate relief’; a programme to provide financial support to widows Telugu The language spoken in Andhra Pradesh; also one who speaks Telugu Telugu Bidda Son of the Telugu soil Vana Samrakshana Samithis Joint Forest Management groups Varuni Vahini Literally ‘stream of liquor’; name given to the manufacture and sale of liquor by the government of Andhra Pradesh prior to 1994 Visalandhra The greater Andhra, called Andhra Pradesh Votu Bhiksha Votes as alms Zamindar Type of landlord, holder and rent-receiver of an agricultural estate during the British rule Zilla District Zilla Parishad District Council vii Acronyms and Abbreviations AIADMK All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham AMS Andhra Maha Sabha (Andhra Conference) APCC Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (prior to 1956, Andhra Provincial Congress Committee) APCCCR Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries BC Backward Caste BJP Bharatiya Janata Party BJS Bharatiya Jana Sangh BSP Bahujan Samaj Party CLP Congress Legislature Party CMEY Chief Minister’s programme for Empowerment of Youth CPI Communist Party of India CPM Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI–ML Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) CSDS Centre for the Study of Developing Societies CSP Congress Socialist Party DMK Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DTDP Democratic Telugu Desam Party DWACRA Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas IMFL Indian Made Foreign Liquor INC Indian National Congress KLP Krishikar Lok Party KMPP Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party MIM Majlis-i-Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen (Association for Muslim Unity) ML Marxist–Leninist MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly MP Member of Parliament MPP Mandala Praja Parishad MPTC Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency MRPS Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi NDA National Democratic Alliance NSSO National Sample Survey Organisation NTR NT Rama Rao NTRTDP–LP NTR Telugu Desam Party – Lakshmi Parvathi OBC Other Backward Caste PCC Pradesh Congress Committee PDF People’s Democratic Front PDS Public Distribution System PP Praja Party PRIs Panchayati Raj Institutions PSP Praja Socialist Party Rs Rupees SC Scheduled Caste SCF Scheduled Castes Federation SMART Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent SMSP Single Member Simple Plurality SP Samajwadi Party SSP Sarva Sangrama Parishad ST Scheduled Tribe viii TCLF Telengana Congress Legislators Forum TDP Telugu Desam Party TDPLP TDP Lakshmi Parvathi TDPN TDP Naidu TPS Telengana Praja Samithi TRS Telengana Rashtra Samithi VAO Village Administrative Officer VDO Village Development Officer ZPP Zilla Praja Parishads ZPTC Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency 1 1 Introduction India is a Union of States, according to its Constitution,