Telangana and Reddy – Kamma battles : Gautam Pingle సెప్టెంబర్ 6, 2011

Reddys, Kammas and Telangana
Gautam Pingle

Economic & Political Weekly EPW September 3, 2011 vol xlvi no 36 p 19 – 21

Reddy-Kamma rivalry has defined politics in Andhra Pradesh in both the Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party. The two communities used a pliant Telangana vote bank in their battles, but this option is now no longer available to them. Should that come in the way of the formation of a state of Telangana?

Take Andhra: there are only two major communities spread over the linguistic area. They are either Reddis or the Kammas. They hold all the land, all the offices, and all the business.
– Ambedkar 1955

Caste is an important factor in the political history of Andhra Pradesh and remains critical for political mobilisation. Most scholars have pointed out the hegemony of the Reddy and Kamma castes.
– Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) Report: 410

The Reddys and Kammas continue to hold economic and political power and are likely to continue to play an influential role in future decisions regarding the state.
– SKC Report: 310.

Caste and Party Politics

A Reddy-Kamma alliance with the Reddys playing a dominant role has become the leitmotif of the Andhra Pradesh (AP) Congress. This control is based partly on numerical strength, dominant status in villages and economic power. As for numerical strength:

…the regional distribution of upper castes varies with Coastal Andhra having the highest proportion at 32%, followed by Rayalaseema at 24% and Telangana having the smallest proportion at only 11% (SKC Report: 380).

Of the 11 cabinets formed from 1956 to 1980, the Reddy contingent supplied an average of 26% of the total with the brahmins (7%), Kammas (8%) and Kapus and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) (28%). This was in line with the general dominance of the Reddy community in the seven assemblies (with an average strength of 294 seats) during the period 1957 to 1985, when they had an average of 25% of the seats with brahmins getting 9%, Kammas 14% and backward castes 17%. While all this was going on, during the same period there was a total collapse of brahmin presence in the seven assemblies (from 23 to 11 MLAs) as well as in the same 11 cabinets (from 23% to 6%) (Reddy 1989: 305-06).

However, it is an odd but incontestable fact that a Kamma has never been a Congress chief minister. This is significant in that the Kamma community from 1953 until 1983 had almost totally supported the Congress Party with votes, funds and media support. That was to change with the advent of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which, in its turn, has had only Kamma chief ministers till date! While the Congress has some Kamma support and the TDP Reddy support, they largely reflect the interests of the dominant castes that control their fortunes. However, as Carolyn Elliott (1970) comments, these Reddy-Kamma equations are unstable and tend to fall apart. (మరింత…)