Opinion: Stop destabilising politics
Positive politics is welcome, but egregious politics of Andhras in Telangana is subversiveness.
By J R Janumpalli
Hyderabad: It’s been eight years since separate Telangana was formed. But, the absurd politics of Andhras continues to create a nuisance for the State. With not much improvement in Andhra Pradesh, the earlier ‘powerful’ residents and important government functionaries continue to stay in Hyderabad, as the capital issue is not yet settled. They do not want to leave Hyderabad and do not identify with Telangana either. They call themselves people of ‘two Telugu States,’ a euphemism for Andhra. They have properties, voter and ration cards in both States. They milk both governments for their benefit. They vote for their caste parties in Andhra and Andhra parties in Telangana. Questionable duplicitous citizenship!
The progress of Telangana does not interest them. Some of them don the leadership mantle and indulge in a political rigmarole here. They canvass against the Telangana government and deride the progress made by the State. Some undertake political tours in Telangana boasting to bring down the present government and usher in a government, like in the united State, which was anathema to Telangana.
Some go to Andhra and campaign against Telangana and its government, without much intelligible meaning in it. They talk condescendingly about the history and culture of Telangana. A peculiar mixture of chauvinism, misplaced victimhood and a vindictive mindset!
Unfounded Fear
There is nothing wrong if the people commemorate their Andhra roots in Telangana. After all, Andhra Pradesh is divided into two States, not into two countries like India and Pakistan. Many other States were divided in the country before. The people of those States are living amicably with each other. Punjab-Haryana and Maharashtra-Gujarat are two good examples. And the new States are progressing in cooperation with each other. That is the objective of the division of the States. Lakhs of people from other States are settled in Hyderabad and Telangana. They have integrated with Telangana society and are living harmoniously. Why our Andhra brethren do not like to live like that is a moot question.
Their grievance that they have to suffer due to Telangana is wrong. It is Andhra which is responsible for that. Firstly, the merger of Telangana with Andhra in 1956 was a historical blunder. It was a forced merger. It was a dire necessity for Andhra and was totally unnecessary for Telangana. That is why the merger was made with 14 pre-conditions in favour of Telangana but all the 14 conditions were flouted in the united State with impunity.
Secondly, Andhra had a huge Budget deficit in 1956. Andhra always had more revenue expenditure than its income. Hyderabad state was revenue surplus. This continued from 1956 to 2014 in the merged State too. The deficit of Andhra was made good with the surplus from Telangana in all 58 years to balance the State’s Budget. There was not much effort to increase the per capita revenue of Andhra in the united State. There is a basic difference in the revenue structure of both regions/States. The SOTR in the total revenue of the State in Andhra is around 50% only, while it is more than 70% for Telangana. The proportion of SOTR in the total revenue generally influences the financial situation of a State. (see infographics)
After the demerger, Andhra registered about Rs 10,000 crore revenue deficit in 2014. Telangana gained that much and recorded a surplus Budget. In fact, it was the revenue of Telangana that the Andhra region was enjoying in the united State and it has now come back to Telangana. To offset it, the 14th and 15th Finance Commissions provided Rs 52,000 crore deficit grants from 2015 to 2026 to residual AP. Such a huge deficit grant for a period of 10-12 years was never given to any other divided State in the country. Despite this, there is not much commensurate increase in the revenue income of Andhra. Its revenue deficit is increasing by the year.
Thirdly, there is also a general refrain from Andhras that AP has sustained a big loss because of the demerger. It is absolutely unfounded. In the united State, Telangana lost hundreds of lives, and a few lakhs of crores of its revenue. It also lost a great deal of river water, jobs, lands etc for which there is no estimation. In such a scenario, how is the demerger a loss to AP?
Biased Centre
The Centre, as if Andhra is the sufferer, has sanctioned about 20 national/infrastructural institutions and other grants to it. A national project of Polavaram worth Rs 60,000 crore was sanctioned to AP despite Andhra drawing much more river water than it was eligible for. Even if a few institutions were mentioned in the reorganisation, the Centre has not deemed to give them to Telangana so far.
As per the CAG audited accounts from 2014-15 to 2020-21, the amount given to AP as devolution and grants is Rs 2,93,691 crore and for Telangana, it is just Rs 1,53,341 crore. That shows the losses and gains of both the States in the division.
The BJP-led central government continues to give huge grants and other central funds to Andhra for its political reasons. In addition, it has imposed a financial siege on Telangana and is hampering its reconstruction with malafide political intentions. As if it is not enough, political outfits from Andhra are playing bizarre fractional politics here. The civil society of Andhra in Telangana should see the facts and promote responsible citizenship here since they have made it their home. Positive politics is welcome, but negative politics is subversiveness.
(The author is a freelance journalist)
