Poll-pourri from Telangana

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Elections are always welcome. No, I'm not talking on behalf of the aam janta here, but yes there are some people who are very happy with elections. The belt shop owners, for instance, in the poll regions wear wide grins on all the days running up to the polls with liquor sales hitting an all-time high.

It's election time in 12 constituencies of the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh. More than 2,000 people have been arrested in liquor cases, 4000 belt shops closed and cash worth 2.19 crores seized..& these are just the official figures. For once, it isn't the bulky politician counting his bucks, but the poor farmer/weaver a la voter who is weighed, in some fanatic instances quite literally, in money.

After much dramatic political developments in the last few months, including a fast-unto-death by Telangana Rashtra Samiti Chief (TRS) K Chandrashekhar Rao, violent agitations by alleged supporters of Telangana, resignations by TRS MLAs in protest - 12 constituencies of Telangana region have now gone for by-polls. Five constituencies are also using the ballot paper, the first time since 1999, because the long list of candidates would not fit into the EVM (electronic voting machine)!

While some political analysts believe it will be a sweep for the TRS as it is reigning on the separate statehood sentiment, there are others who believe otherwise. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu successfully created a storm and almost a war-like atmosphere recently at the Maharashtra-AP border over the Babhli project. Claiming his water war is because he doesn't want the Telangana region to go parched; that the agitation also waters his party's Telangana vote bank is a different fact altogether.

The Congress, meanwhile, is hoping it uses this opportunity to get back some of the key seats it lost in the 2009 elections. All eyes are on the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) Chief D Srinivas (DS). He is fighting for the Nizamabad Urban seat against a BJP candidate and is yet again counting on the minority votes to get him through. The political heavyweight faced an embarrassing loss last year and having learnt from his past mistakes, is going all out to woo the minority voters, even making promises on the contentious T issue. Everyone in the state's political circles knows that if DS wins, he will eventually become an apt candidate for the chief ministerial berth. He is a Congress loyalist, enjoys power within the state unit and hails from the Telangana region which will help the Congress deal with the accusation of ignoring Telangana representation.

His loss though, will mark the end of his political power and his dream of making it to the CM's chair.

The TRS, meanwhile, has been going hammer and tongs with its campaigning. The TRS Chief KCR has practically used every working loudspeaker in the region to highlight the "sacrifice" of his 10 MLAs who resigned in protest of a separate state. While these by polls will be an acid test for the party, it will also show whether the Telangana sentiment is a mere political rhetoric or if the man on ground really feels that a separate state will solve his problems of employment and development.

Until that decision, the poor farmer/ debt-ridden weaver can expect to return home to find alluring 1000-rupee notes attached to his voting slips. He can also expect to open his door to find the political bigwigs promising to fight for his water and food rights. He can expect to be treated to liquor and biryani. But the bigger hope is that HE will know this will not last. He will hopefully learn to filter bogus promises. He will hopefully come out & choose to exercise the power of his Vote, in yet another test of my country's democracy!