Congress, BJP plan on loan waiver rattles TRS
Naidu may join hands with Congress in Telangana but not in AP
The Congress and the BJP have both promised a crop loan waiver of `2 lakh if they are voted to power in Telangana in the 2019 Assembly elections.
This has taken the wind out of the sails of the TRS government’s much vaunted Rythu Bandhu scheme that gifts `8,000 per acre per year to farmers.
The TRS government will spend `12,000 crore every year for Rythu Bandhu which also includes `5 lakh free life insurance for farmers.
However, independent surveys ordered by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, as well as intelligence reports on the poll prospects of the TRS indicate that farmers, who form a major chunk of voters in Telangana state, are more influenced by the `2 lakh crop loan waiver than by Rythu Bandhu!
The surveys revealed that about 71 per cent of farmers in Telangana got cheques ranging from `100 to `10,000 each under Rythu Bandhu, but they are not happy with this and prefer the `2 lakh crop loan waiver which will free them from debt at a single go.
The survey report came as a shock to the ruling party which strongly believes that Rythu Bandhu would be a game changer in the 2019 polls and help the TRS to retain its power with the support of 58 lakh farmers who received cheques directly from the government.
The farmers who got cheques of over Rs 1 lakh each as they own land in excess of 25 acres, are happy with Rythu Bandhu, but there are only 6,488 of them.
The Congress and BJP’s promise to waive `2 lakh crop loan at a single go is very attractive to the majority of farmers who have taken loans ranging from `50,000 to `2 lakh.
The Chief Minister and his ministers K.T. Rama Rao, T. Harish Rao and MP K. Kavitha have launched a counter attack on the `2 lakh waiver at all their public meetings.
The proposed electoral alliance between the Congress and the TD is slowly taking shape, with leaders of the two parties taking up the issue with their respective high commands.
TS TD sources said party national president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was in favour of the alliance in the state, but was not yet clear about the alliance in AP.
Talks on seat adjustments between the parties are expected to begin in August.
If the Congress-TD tieup materialises, it will be a strange situation because the TD was formed by N.T. Rama Rao in the 1980s in opposition to the Congress and has continued to be an arch rival. The changed political circumstances after bifurcation has forced the two parties to explore some kind of alliance.
The emergence of the TRS in Telangana state, which beat both the Congress and TD in 2014, and also the emergence of the YSRC as a strong political force in AP has forced the hands of the two parties.
“Talks on the CongressTD alliance is going on at the level of state leaders at present. Recently, an advisor to AICC president Rahul Gandhi has taken the talks to the next level by approaching top leaders in the TDP. The alliance will take shape with an agreement on adjustment of seats for the Lok Sabha and Assembly,” a TS TD source said.
TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy is also keen on forging a grand alliance of the Congress, TD, Left parties and Prof. Kodandaram’s newly launched Telangana Jana Samiti, to take on the ruling TRS in the 2019 polls and has sought the approval of the Congress high command.