Till a month ago, the opposition in Telangana existed only in name. Down in the dumps after most MLAs from both the Telugu Desam and the Congress crossed over to become part of the treasury benches.
Mallanna Sagar has changed all that. Though nothing has changed in arithmetic terms in the Telangana Assembly, the agitation started by the villagers in Medak district, unwilling to give up their land for what they consider is a pittance, has come in handy for the opposition parties – the Congress, the TDP and BJP – to step in and make their presence felt. Every Congress leader – most of them former ministers, having bit the electoral dust in 2014 – made more than one trip to Etigadda Kistapur, one of the eight villages likely to become history if Mallanna Sagar is to become reality.
With over 30,000 people in 14 villages in Medak district in protest mode against the Rs 9800 crore irrigation project, the government is caught in a bind. It did not expect that the villagers will manage to sustain an agitation for well over a month. The K Chandrasekhar Rao government has been forced to climb down by asking villagers to opt for compensation under the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 if they find GO 123 of the Telangana government an unfair deal.
But it is the political chorus more than the protest by villagers that will worry KCR. By wooing the opposition leaders to the TRS side, he has attempted to wipe out non-TRS presence in most parts of Telangana. Piggybacking on an emotive issue of one’s land works well for the few opposition leaders supporting the farmers. It is a symbiotic relationship that can serve as oxygen to a dying opposition in Telangana.
TDP leader Revanth Reddy sat on a 48 hour long deeksha, Congress and BJP leaders addressed the gathering accusing KCR of taking away lands for a song. The TRS retort has been sharp as well. KCR’s son, K T Rama Rao pointed out how his parents too had lost land to irrigation projects and knew the pain of being re-settled.
The TRS gameplan is to accuse the opposition of acting against the interests of Telangana, by working in a manner that denies the state precious water. But when villagers themselves are the dramatis personae of the Mallanna Sagar agitation, with the opposition only playing the role of supporting cast, this approach may not work too well.
The Mallanna Sagar has demonstrated people power in Telangana and the government has not communicated its intent in the most positive manner. Ironically many of the agitators are those who took part in the Telangana agitation led by KCR and honed their skills in protests under his leadership and guidance. The students are challenging the teacher now.
