YS Sharmila is now on her fifth protest fast in as many weeks. On Tuesday, she has chosen Gundenga village in Mahabubnagar to protest on the issue of joblessness in Telangana. While protests are happening with unfailing regularity, what about their impact? Well! The less said the better. Her protests may be making headlines in some friendly media outlets, but the people are largely ignoring them.

According to political watchers, it is ironical that she is talking about jobs at a time when the government is promising schemes like Dalit Bandhu, where huge amounts get deposited in a family’s account without doing anything. The Dalit Bandhu and other freebees are now the toast of the season. Especially since the Nagarjunasagar bypoll, even the youth do not seem to be bothered about jobs. Doles are what they seem to want. Given this situation, will the Sharmila protests have any impact?

Secondly, she is not talking about the two topics that are deemed very hot in political circles. She is not talking about Huzurabad bypolls, which has the attention of the whole state. Secondly, she is not talking about the Dalit Bandhu scheme, which is now being hotly debated. She has completely ignored these two topics. At a time when the TRS, BJP and the Congress are straining their every nerve in Huzurabad, she is not even talking about it. What more? She said she would support any unemployed youth who files nomination in Huzurabad. This only means that she has already given a walkover in Huzurabad..

On the other hand, she is talking about joblessness and unemployment in places like Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar, which are not seeing much political activity. So far, she has carefully avoided places like Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Medak and Warangal, which are the epicentres of political activity in Telangana. This kind of politics is likely to further marginalise her and reduce her political relevance, say political analysts.