The sudden onslaught of the corona ‘mahamarri’ has led to the postponement of civic body elections in Andhra Pradesh. We thanked Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar for that. Elections were postponed. We thought it was time to focus on fighting the pandemic, keeping people safe and getting front line warriors the resources they need. But NO, we were wrong.
The leaders from the ruling dispensation were in the mood for elections. Corona situation in the state has put a spotlight on Andhra Pradesh response to the pandemic. Strangely, it has not cast a shadow over the election campaign. It did not upend the traditional political canvassing as we know it. Rallies, meeting people in groups without maintaining physical distancing norms, distributing cash and knocking on doors of people in corona affected areas, everything seemed like election campaigning than relief works. We thought the corona situation would put politics in an entirely new perspective in the state. The YSRCP leaders proved this as our wishful thinking. The lockdown regulation prohibits large gatherings, makes physical distancing non-negotiable. However, only individuals must act responsibly, not the politicians. The red zones are not corona affected areas, but constituencies. For some leaders in the ruling dispensation, the faces hiding behind the protective masks are voters, and not helpless, worried and terrified people. When the YSRCP visited the corona affected areas, it seemed like they were on election tour, visiting their constituencies to seek votes. It was a usual scene, YSRCP ‘netas’ with folded hands, handing out food with faces of Jagan on the packets. All the typical activities of a election campaign — canvassing for votes, trying to drive political conversations, grabbing the public’s attention— all this in a time of deadly crisis.
When YSRCP MLA Madhusudhan Reddy took out a rally in Chittoor’s Srikalahasti, it was a vulgar display of arrogance, abuse of power and nonchalant attitude. The YSRCP MLA’s massive tractor rally to distribute rice to the people in Srikahalasti looked as if we were in an election year. At the rally, there was a large turnout of the YSRCP MLA’s supporters, a posse of police personnel on bandobast duties, revenue and ward secretariat staff in full attendance. The Jagan administration looked largely incompetent in stopping the MLA masquerading on the streets and whose incompetence and recklessness have threatened the lives of many, many people in the state. Post the rally, Srikalahasti reported 36 cases, at least 13 of them are government employees, police officers who were part of the rally bandobast. Till that time not a single corona case was reported in Srikalahasti.
Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said the government employees contracted the virus while performing bandobust duties during the rally took out by the YSRCP MLA. “Who is responsible for this? In Chittoor, 56 cases were reported, around 36 cases in Srikalahasti.
Had the CM restrained his MLA, the Srikalahasti incident would not have led to 13 government staff contracting the virus,’’ he fired.
“The YSRCP party leaders are spreading the virus by making door-to-door visits to the people. Do you expect us to keep quiet while the YSRCP leaders spread the virus,” Naidu asked.
What action did the Jagan government take against the irresponsible MLA? If the Opposition parties point accusing fingers at the government, the Cabinet ministers resort to personal attacks, pour vitriol on the Opposition leaders.
Such display of arrogance is not an isolated case, but a common refrain across the state. In Nellore, another YSRCP MLA Nallapreddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy organized food and grocery distribution programme. The lockdown rules were thrown out of the window. Hundreds of supporters of the MLA took part in the programme. None of them wore masks and none of them maintained physical distance. It did not look one bit social work. The MLA with folded hands was a typical photo op during the election season.
A large group of YSRCP activists led by the party’s ZPTC and MPTC contesting candidates handed out cash to the people across the state claiming that it was being distributed by the party president and state Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. The candidates were caught on camera uttering “Jagan anna asked us to distribute this money. Jagan anna asked us to give Rs 1,000.” The TDP leaders accused that the YSRCP leaders were using the central disaster funds for their political gains ahead of the elections. These gatherings could be willfully dangerous to public health. YSRCP should treat people as people and not see voters in them. Apart from physical distancing, what we need in India is political distancing.
