BC disempowerment has lain dormant but festering. Successive Congress governments have tried to balance the politically-dominant and economically-prosperous Kamma and Reddy castes with a judicious combination of BCs, but this has left everyone dissatisfied.
Caste consolidation as a means of politics was first achieved with spectacular success by the rich Kammas from the coastal Andhra districts who joined NT Rama Rao in the early 1980s.
The rallying cry was Telugu atma gouravam (pride) but the TDP actually represented Kamma empowerment. Things got so bad for other castes that in 1988, Vangaveeti Ranga -- a politician from the BCs -- sat on a hunger strike citing a threat to his life from the TDP, and he was actually murdered. But even this did not really result in BC consolidation for want of leadership. A leader has now arrived.
All parties have recognised the importance of the BCs. Congress Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has announced that 33 per cent of the seats in the forthcoming assembly election will be given to the BCs. The TDP says it will give 40 per cent seats to the BCs.
Image: Chiranjeevi addresses the crowd at his first public rally in Tirupati.
Photograph: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Chiranjeevi prays for political fortune?
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