The Joint Action Committees (JACs) which fought for the realisation of Statehood for Telangana and then went into a slumber once the State was formed are now regrouping.
The JACs were headed by senior professors from various universities and student leaders. During the movement, between 2009 and 2014, they were largely united in their mission. But today, they are divided. While some of them have been gearing up to take on the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government, which they say has failed Telangana, a few others have been supporting the government and highlighting its achievements of the last nine years. The Telangana government celebrated State formation day for 21 days beginning June 2 in a big way.
‘Intellectual’ support
Recently, a group of former JAC heads met informally and said that anger against the government has to be channelised properly, as was the case during the agitation for statehood. They plan to invite all the big players of the movement days, including student JAC leaders from Osmania University and Kakatiya University, which were the epicentres of the agitation, and conduct an open session. They plan to regroup in order to provide ‘intellectual’ support to the opposition parties. Prominent among them are Warangal JAC chairman, T. Papi Reddy, and Osmania University Students JAC leader, Pidamarthi Ravi, who are reportedly set to join the Congress. Both of them were initially patronised by the government: Mr. Reddy went on to head the Telangana State Council of Higher Education, while Mr. Ravi fought the Assembly elections on a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now BRS) ticket. He lost, but he was made the Chairman of the Telangana Scheduled Castes Cooperative Development Corporation.
There is also reportedly pressure on M. Kodandaram to reactivate the groups that enjoyed mass support during the movement. Mr. Kodandaram was Chairman of the all-party Telangana JAC, which was the umbrella organisation for the JACs from the village to the State level. Each District JAC played an active role in mobilising people’s support during the movement.
Those who are trying to regroup argue that they are not trying to revive the JACs, but play a non-political role by raising societal issues which the BRS has neglected. They argue that the BRS has misused its power and killed the democratic spirit in Telangana and is also busy promoting family rule. They see the government as oppressive and say that it has ignored the student community. They believe that as a group, they have the capacity to negate the narratives created by the BRS government on good governance.
On the other hand, several intellectuals and journalists also support the government. Ghanta Chakrapani, a senior journalist who countered the pro-united Andhra Pradesh forces with his incisive analysis, as well as a few employee union leaders support the BRS government. Professor Chakrapani was made the Chairman of the Telangana State Public Service Commission when the new State was born. Some of the other JAC heads went on to become Vice Chancellors or occupy political positions. Though these people have not declared officially that they favour the government, the fact that they have been highlighting Telangana’s development achievements on various platforms could be an indication of their stand.
Many JAC leaders have had an unpredictable relationship with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao. While some of them supported him initially, they later became his worst critics, while some others have maintained a distance from him.
Political churning
As Telangana gears up for the Assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held at the end of this year, it remains to be seen how this political churning could affect the BRS’s prospects. If some of these anti-BRS forces work efficiently, the direct beneficiary would be the Congress. This is because first, it was the United Progressive Alliance government which created a separate Telangana and second, the BJP would likely be the last party that these intellectuals would support. The outcome of the recent Karnataka Assembly elections has also given these groups a much-needed push to dethrone the BRS government and bring to power an alternative party.
