Andhra Pradesh CM and YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy campaigning for the Assembly elections in the state. (Photo: Jagan Mohan Reddy/ X)
Co-written with Raviteja Rambarki
“Mamayya” a colloquial Telugu word used to describe the maternal uncle is often the relational title used for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Given the plethora of benefits delivered directly to beneficiaries, especially to women and children, through his flagship Navaratnalu welfare schemes (his version of Congress’s “nine guarantees”), Jagan Reddy claims to have created a direct connect with his voters. Travelling across Vizianagaram, in Andhra Pradesh’s underdeveloped northern region, one could see a resonance for these claims, especially among poor voters. Local-level leaders from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), who claim to be in “siddham” mode (a campaign slogan from Jagan Reddy), are also vouching for the efficient transfer of benefits from these welfare schemes directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts, making the chief minister immensely popular as a benevolent provider.
However, the equally powerful narrative on the opposite side is helmed by the leaders and activists of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which, on one hand, is criticising these welfare schemes as nothing but electoral gimmicks and misuse of state resources, and on the other hand, is evenly matching them — sometimes even promising more from their own list of welfare schemes. The successful implementation of welfare schemes has led to a state of competitive welfarism in Andhra Pradesh, which has ramifications for the nature of electoral politics in the state as well as in the nature of capital being channeled and promoted through politics. Andhra Pradesh is one of the states where a significant proportion of the state revenue is spent on disbursing direct payments for numerous welfare schemes. Under this new wave of competitive welfarism, this proportion of spending is only set to rise significantly, irrespective of which party comes to power in 2024.
The extensive welfare schemes implemented by the YSRCP government provides welfare for different sectors and sections of voters: Farmers (YSR Rythu Bharosa), education (Jagananna Vidhyaa Deevena and Jagananna Ammavodi), health (YSR Arogyasri), self-help groups (YSR Aasara and Cheyutha), housing for the poor, all of which, combined with prohibition of liquor, cement the party’s pro-poor position. The narrative set by Jagan Reddy in the form of pettamdaree versus pedhodu (loosely translated as the rich and dominant versus the poor) makes these schemes a vehicle of propagating welfare populism.
Despite the opposition to the rising costs of such welfare schemes, Chandrababu Naidu also seems to have taken up the welfare pitch by matching Jagan’s schemes with his own set of “Super Six” schemes comprising promises such as Annadata (Rs 20,000 annually to farmers), Thalliki Vandanam (Rs 15,000 annually for every school-going child), and pensions of Rs 4,000 for those above 50 years. The TDP also pledged initiatives like the Deepam Scheme (providing three free gas cylinders annually) and Aadabidda Nidhi (granting Rs 1,500 monthly to women above 18 years), alongside promises of creating 20 lakh jobs or providing Rs 3,000 as Nirudyoga Bruthi (unemployment allowance). The differentiating factor, according to TDP leaders, is that Naidu has a credible record as a wealth creator and able administrator who can bring capital investments into the state. This is emphasised more prominently in their election slogan, “Babu Surety, Bhavishyathu Guarantee” (Babu’s surety and a guarantee for future), blaring out in the form of a catchy song on autos and tempos as they do the rounds of small hamlets and towns in Andhra.
These diverse approaches to welfare distribution also have some important structural effects on the way in which politics is organised at the local level.
While Jagan Reddy’s so-called transformative welfare regime has seen relatively less job creation at the state level, especially due to the lack of investment in the private sector, the YSRCP government has initiated administrative reforms at the village and ward level by introducing new structures like the village and ward secretariat and village volunteer system, promising efficient implementation and distribution of Navaratnalu benefits. This is not just transformative for welfare redistribution but also realigning the power structures at the local level. While the village and ward secretariats opened up employment opportunities for over 1 lakh candidates, the village volunteer system has seen a more partisan recruitment of party cadre or party sympathisers for around 4 lakh positions to ensure last mile delivery of the welfare schemes. These two new structures introduced in every panchayat across the state have two main functions — one is to gather the data of beneficiaries and to ensure last-mile distribution of benefits to them. While this has centralised the welfare redistribution, at the local level, these structures often override the existing power of the Panchayati Raj institutions.
Over several interviews with village panchayat leaders, we found that the power to decide the beneficiaries for most welfare schemes no longer resides with the sarpanch, rendering the position powerless in deeply political structures. Panchayat politics in Andhra Pradesh is a hotbed of caste and family politics and positions of power are very dynamically contested. The leaders of the village, often called pedda manushulu, acted like the patrons who would control and enjoy the political support of subservient clients. However, the administrative changes brought in by Jagan Reddy have altered these dynamics to some extent and have created a direct link of patronage exchange between the chief minister and the voters, while at the ground level, the village volunteers are also acting like proxy patrons, ensuring unwavering support from the clients.
It is interesting to note that past TDP governments also had a Janmabhoomi committee at the village level, which performed more or less similar functions. This shows a continuity in the approach of welfare distribution in both the parties, which has led to deeper networks of redistribution at the local level and has seemingly empowered villages by democratising their choices and put them in a direct contact with “Jagan Anna/Mamayya” in this case. However, these new structures have also affected the functioning and therefore the purpose of Panchayati Raj institutions. This has some effect on the canvassing for electoral mobilisations too, as for both Assembly and Parliamentary elections, mobilisation at the village level is mostly centered around the politics of the Panchayat.
Whether it is welfare plus sops or welfare plus jobs that wins the 2024 elections, it is these important and transformative changes at the ground level, that has the potential to shape the politics of Andhra Pradesh in the coming future.
Bagchi is assistant professor, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University and Rambarki is a research scholar at the University of Hyderabad
