COMMENTARY Economic & Political Weekly EPW september 3, 2011 vol xlvi no 36 19 Reddys, Kammas and Telangana Gautam Pingle Take Andhra: there are only two major com- munities spread over the linguistic area. They are either Reddis or the Kammas. They hold all the land, all the ofices, and all the business. – Ambedkar 1955 Caste is an important factor in the political history of Andhra Pradesh and remains criti- cal 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 inluential 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 bec0me 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 domi- nance 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 pres- ence 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 signiicant 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 relect 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. The TDP victory in 1983 and again in 1985 – with massive majorities in Telangana – broke the old power relations and ensured 10 odd years of TDP rule. As the SKC says: The rise and subsequent long rule of Telugu Desam Party, led/dominated by the Kammas of Coastal Andhra, further consolidated Telugu identity, while successfully suppressing the demand for a separate Telangana state (SKC Report: 342). During the TDP reign, it was obvious that the Rayalaseema Reddys were under severe pressure, especially with Chandrababu Naidu’s successful attempt at playing the modernist politician publicly while fulill- ing the dreams of his vested interest lobby. His period also saw the rise of Kamma power in Rayalaseema. The entry of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), who became leader of the opposi- tion in 1999, altered the strategy of the Congress Party. For by 1999, caste-based voting had become the fact of AP politics: survey data showed that 87% of Kammas and 62% of the “Peasant Other Backward Castes” in AP voted for the TDP while 77% of the Reddys, 64% of the scheduled castes and 60% of Muslims for the Congress (Suri 2002: Table 6). This meant that the overall elec- tion result rested with the other commu- nities such as Kapus, “Service OBCs” and scheduled tribes who voted almost equal- ly for the two major parties (ibid) and could swing the very ine division of the loating vote (10%) which decided which party will get the majority of seats in the assembly. The emergence of other caste groups such as the Kapu-dominated Praja Rajyam Party ( PRP ) destabilised the electoral scene. The PRP proceeded to take away nearly 12% of the TDP vote share and ensured the Reddy-Kamma rivalry has deined 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? Gautam Pingle (gautam.pingle@gmail.com) is at the Centre for Public Policy and Governance, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.