The South-South Divide that is changing the political landscape

In the run-up to Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge lamented that a 20-seat deficit in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections stopped them in their heels and that they would have put BJP leaders in jail if they gained those and formed the government at the center. It is precisely those 20 seats (and 1 more) that the southern state of Andhra Pradesh handed over to the NDA making Modi’s third term a reality. Congress-led INDIA alliance was caught dumbstruck and unaware in a crucial state like Andhra Pradesh where they not only drew a blank but also failed to have any gameplan for the 25 seats at stake where the battle lines were clearly drawn between NDA led by TDP on one hand and Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSRCP that fought a lone war on the other side. This was in stark contrast to neighboring Tamil Nadu (+ Puducherry) where the INDIA alliance swept the polls with 40-0 tally against the NDA. While there are several factors that account for this diametrically opposite verdict from the two southern states of Andhra Pradesh and  Tamil Nadu, it is already costing the country dear in this hat-trick term of Modi-led NDA with far-reaching implications for the future as well. The myth of NDA partners such as Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar reining in the BJP’s Hindutva agenda is being busted day in and day out as cow hooliganism goes unabated in several states claiming innocent Muslim lives and the mayhem in Manipur continuing with no end in sight. Amit Shah is showing no signs of slowing down his assault on federalism with the Union cabinet clearing the one nation one election bill for introduction in the Parliament that manifestly exposes the deaf-mutism of NDA allies that are cocooned in deep slumber at such a critical juncture. In spite of conveniently ignoring longstanding demands of Andhra people such as special category status for the divided state of AP and stopping the privatization of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been able to throw a jhumla of arranging a loan for the development of Andhra capital Amaravathi that kept the “kingmaker” Chandrababu Naidu quiet, a sign again of the unchecked power of BJP bosses in this supposedly beleaguered third term.

This week’s storm of Tirupathi Balaji temple’s famous laddu being made out of animal fat kicked up by none other than the state chief minister Mr Naidu himself shows the extent to which Hindutva agenda is now being mainstreamed in the south. Naidu has outdone even hardcore Sangh Parivar leaders by taking up a communally sensitive topic such as this and making it a National headline. His claim is that the former Andhra Pradesh CM Jaganmohan Reddy had utter disregard to TTD (TirumalaTirupathi Devasthanam) and filled it with so-called people of outside faith, the veiled jibe being that Mr Reddy himself is a Christian. This perhaps epitomizes the falsity of the North-South divide that has already been shattered by the 2024 election results where Uttar Pradesh trounced the Jai Sriram narrative while Andhra Pradesh seems to embrace the crass politics of Hindutva. While maintaining stoic silence on real tragedies unraveling before us, BJP’s junior partner Mr Pawan Kalyan of the Janasena Party has called for a “Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board” in the wake of the Laddu adulteration affront. Nothing else exposes the south-south divide between Andhra and Tamil Nadu politicians in this regard as exactly a year ago in the month of September, Udayanidhi Stalin declared Sanatana Dharma itself to be a scourge that needed eradication. Such a vociferous critique of the said dharma on the lines of the inimitable Dravidian stalwart Periyar was unheard of in the post-Kamandal India that stirred up a nationwide debate. It is perhaps a strange coincidence that Mr Kalyan happens to be the Deputy CM of Andhra Pradesh while there is a heavy buzz that Mr Udayanidhi Stalin is tipped to don the same role in Tamil Nadu. Of note, today’s Andhra Pradesh was once part of Madras Presidency that gave birth to the Dravidian movement that successfully thwarted hindi and Hindutva imposition on the south. A hundred years later, it is paradoxical that Andhra Pradesh is being so instrumental in giving Hindutva a new lease of life. Both NTR and YSR, the tallest leaders of erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh played an instrumental role in thwarting BJP’s ambitions in the state during their respective tenures. BJP started taking a foothold in the late 1990s in alliance with Chandrababu Naidu. Since then, it has been able to garner the support of a certain section of people in what would later become separate Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Post-2014, Pawan Kalyan became an unexpected torch-bearer of Modi-style Hindutva throwing his support behind the NDA that helped them romp home in the state. It is no coincidence that, after NDA’s rise in 2014, cow hooliganism, a rare occurrence in the South, raised its ugly head in Amalapuram, a small town in coastal Andhra Pradesh in 2016 where Dalits were stripped, tied to a tree and beaten in Una-style. Barring a on-off stint in 2019, Chandrababu Naidu flocked back to the NDA in 2024 and went so far as to declare BJP a “natural ally” in lock step with Pawan Kalyan. Now with the Sanatana demand, they seem to be buttressing Hindutva politics in the state while conveniently deflecting away from welfare, the traditional bedrock of Dravidian politics.

One would wonder if it is by design that the NDA ruled Andhra Pradesh has taken up such an openly Hindutva stance while paying no heed to the caste census demand being backed by INDIA alliance. Mr Pawan Kalyan brought to fore an ill-defined skill census in lieu of caste census, an ardent demand of the downtrodden people. This seems to be a deft tactic to throttle a comprehensive caste census. While Bihar set a sterling example by conducting a detailed caste survey, this feat is yet to be achieved by any state in the South. On another note, Andhra Pradesh (with its able companion Telangana) remains the only state in the south that is not led by an OBC Chief Minister today and has not even had an OBC leader at the helm since its inception in 1956, carved out from Madras Presidency.  

With this new Hindutva thrust, Andhra Pradesh seems to be entering unchartered waters and it remains to be seen where this will end up with BJP grinning ear to ear at the prospect of solidifying its presence in the south to make up for its potential losses in the Hindi belt. 

G Naveen has been writing articles about politics with emphasis on social Justice for more than 20 years on various platforms. He is a physician by profession. Email: [email protected]