The
epoch from August 2004 to August 2009 can be termed as THE DARKEST AEON for the
state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Andhra Pradesh was then governed by Congress
chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who indulged in big ticket spending
programmes; some of them supposedly developmental and others populist. However,
all the spending programmes were beset with massive corruption, with some large
irrigation, infrastructure and Industrial projects just confining to the files.
Nevertheless,
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was a leader with a saviour face but with a sinister heart
as CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations have revealed. He
allegedly abused his official position to help his son build his business
empire by bestowing favours on individuals and entities. Squarely and unfairly,
his son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy amassed wealth by pressuring companies to
"invest" in his businesses in return for various favours bestowed by
the YSR Reddy government, an innovative and unconventional corruption.
However,
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and his cronies excelled at marketing and popularising
with the masses, many of the yet to take off projects and all exchequer
draining "politically popular" social programmes which have reaped
him immense political benefits after his first 5 year tenure as Chief Minister.
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, politically succeeded as voters unaware of the massive
corruption underlying the big ticket spending re-elected him for a second term
too. As the tentacles of corruption reached far too wide, the KARMA caught up
with the father and he died in a Helicoptor crash in August 2009. Still unaware
of any of their wrongdoings, people of Andhra Pradesh showered immense sympathy
towards his son and other members of his family, post the crash. Seizing the opportunity,
the wealth hungry son turned power hungry too and demanded the Congress
leadership to anoint him as the successor in the state. However, Congress leadership, known
for their unfathomable PRIDE, did not budge to the demands of Y.S.
Jaganmohan Reddy, which resulted in the son walking out of Congress party and
start his own outfit, which had the solid backing of colossal wealth amassed in
just 5 years. In order to make his outfit a political force he eulogized his
father as “MAHA NETA” (A great leader) through mass contact programmes and
Print and electronic media owned by him. He succeeded to a great extent in his
endeavour of eulogizing his father as a great leader, which made him a political
force to reckon with. However, Congress leadership, seething in anger for
defying their diktats, triggered investigations by CBI and ED, which saw Y.S.
Jaganmohan Reddy being arrested. However, political alignments changed with in
the state due to ugly rise of separatist demands, which facilitated a truce
between Congress leadership and Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy that set him free to
pursue his political goal.
Alas,
Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was able to create a formidable impression on
a .
A segment of voters who seem
to be fine with corruption so long as some of the money trickles down to them.
b .
A segment of naive voters
who still eulogized his father
c . A segment of voters who were
beneficiaries of his father’s regime.
d . A segment of gullible voters with caste and/ or religious
affinities.
To
the dismay of many, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has polled 12.8 million votes in the 2014 elections vis-a-vis 13.3 million votes polled for the party that is voted to power. It is spine chilling,
when one thinks of, how democracy can be undermined with ill gotten wealth,
eulogizing demised corrupt leaders and abusing caste and/ or religion for
political gains.
Andhra
Pradesh is NOT YET OUT OF DANGER OF RELAPSE OF THE DARKEST AEON, unless wisdom dawns
upon half the voters of the state.
(Disclaimer: Corruption is rampant in India and
it afflicts every ruling party. As per consensus among whistle blowers and corruption
fighting activists, five to seven per cent is lost to corruption, but in Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's
irrigation programmes that figure is more than 15 to 20 per cent. Although, I
am disgruntled with most parties for their apathy to curb corruption, I believe
in lesser evil being the best to take both state and country forward.)