(Dr Pentapati Pullarao)
Aswamedha was a practice in ancient India where a king would send his horse in places near his kingdom. As long as the horse was not stopped, the King could lay claim to that area. In a way, Aswamedha was a way of avoiding actual war and gaining territory. The Ramayana tells us that Lord Rama’s son Luv and Kush stopped the Ashwamedha horse sent by Lord Rama . In Andhra Pradesh , ever since Pawan Kalyan started Jana Sena, like the ancient Aswamedha ,he has met with success wherever he went to meet people.
Pawan Kalyan addressed a massive Kavathu in Anantapur on December 2, 2018 . The massive meeting was jointly addressed by Pawan Kalyan -Jana Sena Chief , CPI’s Ramakrishna and CPM’s Madhu and shattered the falsehood that Jana Sena and its allies did not have a big base in Rayalaseema . The huge crowd was voluntary and 95% were young people. The Left leaders CPI’s Ramakrishna and CPM’s Madhu are known for their organizing abilities.
The Anantapur Kavuthu was the first major public interaction in Rayalaseema by Jana Sena leaders .The old belief was that Rayalaseema is divided into factions and there was no space for a third force and upper caste-domination prevails in Rayalaseema and no third party could make gains. But the massive meeting which was voluntary showed that there is great hunger for a new force.
Pawan Kalyan made some interesting points :
- Pawan Kalyan said that Rayalaseema was dominated by the same leaders and their families for the last 50 years. There are no new faces since 70n years and those who were MLAs and MPs will be replaced by their children .
- Pawan Kalyan mentioned that Rayalaseema was drought-prone and hence this led to un-employment and poverty. The main source of livelihood for the weaker sections of Rayalaseema is migration and finding jobs in the Gulf. The migrant workers get low pay as they are un-skilled.
- Pawan Kalyan said that during the British rule, Rayalaseema paid more taxes than coastal Andhra and that there were more libraries in Rayalaseema than in Coastal Andhra . Pawan Kalyan blamed bad politics for the fact that advanced Rayalaseema has now become backward Rayalaseema
Politics of Rayalaseema :
The strange fact is that Rayalaseema has had more Chief ministers than Coastal Andhra and Telengana together. Northern Andhra and the Godaveri districts never had a Chief Minister. Other than K. Brahmananda Reddy , Andhra had no Chief Ministers .Though NTR hailed from Coastal Andhra, he retained his Rayalaseema Hindupur MLA seat as Chief Minister. Chief Ministers from Rayalaseema are Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Damodaram Sanjivayya, K. Vijaya Bhasker Reddy , Chandra Babu Naidu and YS Raja Sekhar Reddy and Kiran Kumar Reddy . Further, as Nellore is socially closer to Rayalaseema than coastal Andhra , Bezwada Gopala Reddy and N. Janardhan Reddy can be in the Rayalaseema list. Chandra Babu Naidu and YS Raja Sekhar Reddy together ruled for 20 years. In Andhra Pradesh , Rayalaseema has provided Chief Ministers for nearly 50 years since Independence.
Some sections of Rayalaseema have benefitted greatly and become very rich. But the majority of people are powerless and remain in poverty. For these poorer castes and sections to escape poverty, they flee Rayalaseema. Such people have flocked to Pawan Kalyan on December 2, 2018. They want an alternative to rescue them from the feudal stranglehold they suffer.
Upper castes have realized that the best way to loot is to control politics. Through politics , you can get contracts, mines , payments for transfers, liquor money, protection money and a share in all illegal economic activities . Through wealth and politics , the same families become MLAs. If you belong to a Backward or Sch. Castes, you are not allowed to grow. Can you name any tall Sch. Caste ,Backward classes or Minority leader from Rayalaseema ?
Results of Anantapur Kavathu :
- Jana Sena has confirmed that it is a state-wide phenomena and Pawan Kalyan has support everywhere. Jana Sena is able to collect lakhs of youth without any expense. The public come on their own and need no transport, Biriyani and daily wages. Political parties hire thousands of workers for meetings .
- Anantapur Kavathu has shown that Jana Sena gets people from all sections and castes . A large number of IT professionals came from Bangalore . The massive crowd was young and though the media down played the Anantapur Kavathu , social media spread the news and lakhs of people came.
- A number of MLAs, MPs and senior political leaders now want to join Jana Sena. They have seen the crowds, enthusiasm and how traditional political parties want only the rich .
- Dalit MLA Ravela Kishore of Guntur was welcomed at the Anantapur Kavathu .People learnt how educated Dalit MLAs are ill-treated and insulted by political parties. Chief Minister Naidu must explain why Ravela Kishore was politically boycotted and insults heaped on him by upper castes . Ravela Kishore’s presence sent a very big message to the Telugu States .
New political parties and Isaac Newton’s Law of Gravity :
Isaac Newton (1643 to 1727) found the “ Theory of Gravity “ nearly 350 years ago. Gravity is the force which pulls you down and you cannot escape the earth’s atmosphere. Every new political party suffers from ‘political gravity’ whereby its growth is stopped by rivals. But Anantapur and Dowlaiswaram Kavathus have shown that Jana Sena has broken through Newton’s “Law of Gravity” and is now in orbit. A rocket can travel at thousands of miles an hour after it leaves the earth’s gravity. Jana Sena has taken off ! .
3 biggest cities in India surround Rayalaseema :
Dr. Ambedkar suggested that the poor must escape to the cities to progress economically . The 6 biggest cities in India are Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai . Rayalaseema is surrounded by the 3 biggest cities in India.. Anantapur is 2 hours from Bangalore. Kurnool is 2 hours from Hyderabad. Chittoor district is within 75 miles from Chennai. Cuddapah is also 3 hours from Chennai. No other region in India has 3 giant cities surrounding it as Rayalaseema .
The Triangle of Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore surround Rayalaseema .Yet, Rayalaseema got no benefit for its poor. The problem lies in the politics of Rayalaseema and the solution is for people to adopt “ New Age Politics ’ of Jana Sena .
Mahatma Gandhi said ; “ First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they attack you. Then you win “. Jana Sena is now at the third stage of what Mahatma Gandhi said of any holy fight and at the fourth stage, the journey will end in victory .