In an attempt to woo the Dalit voters in Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)-led K Chandrashekar Rao’s government is building a 125-foot-tall statue of Dr BR Ambedkar near the new Telangana Secretariat. The statue is made of bronze, and is estimated to cost almost Rs 147 crore.
The state government had also launched a number of initiatives for the Dalit community, including the Dalit Bandhu scheme, which CM Rao had promised to replicate throughout the country if voted to power.
At the beginning of 2023, a group of Dalit rights activists, who came to study the scheme in Telangana, had insisted that it should be replicated in Tamil Nadu.
The government provides Rs 10 lakh per household without any bank loan linkage under the Dalit Bandhu scheme to establish a suitable income-generating source. In the year 2021-22, Rs 4,150 crore was distributed to the districts to cover approximately 38,323 SC households. For the year 2022-23, a provision of Rs 17,700 crore has been made with a target of 1,500 beneficiaries.
Further, the Dalit Rakshana Nidhi has been established to ensure that a Dalit Bandhu beneficiary family that faces an unfortunate event does not suffer financially.
Besides these, T-PRIDE is the state’s flagship programme to encourage entrepreneurship among historically marginalised groups like the SC and ST community, women, and specially-abled persons.
The government also provides three acres of agricultural land to landless SC women, along with the provision for creation of irrigation facilities, land development and their agricultural inputs for their sustained livelihood.
As the Assembly elections is scheduled to be held later this year, the BRS is making sure that it has the support of all sections of voters. E Venkateshu, a political science professor from Hyderabad Central University, told News18: “Since coming to power in 2014, BRS (formerly TRS) has been getting support from all sections of society. In recent times, its main political rivals, the BJP and Congress, have been very active in electoral mobilisation of voters. That is why, BRS is not taking anyone’s support for granted. The political space in the state is crowded. Other parties like the YSRTP and BSP have been appealing to the Dalits and backward classes. The pink party has Rythu Bandhu scheme for farmers and initiatives like KCR Kits for women. Now, it’s targeting the Dalit voters. The BRS knows that just 2-3% tilt in the Dalit vote bank can drastically affect the number of winning seats.”
Political commentator Palwai Raghavendra Reddy added that BRS is leaving no stone unturned to protect its fort. “After consolidation of Muslims votes in favour of his party, KCR might be hoping this approach would consolidate Dalit votes in favour of BRS. Shaadi Mubarak is a hit scheme among poor Muslims, and lakhs among them are pledging their support to BRS and KCR due to such welfare initiatives. While he hopes 10% of total voters will consolidate in BRS’ favour in the form of Muslims; implementing the Dalit Bandhu scheme will bring him in another 10% of total votes.”
He further said KCR will play up the Ambedkar card as a matter of “self-respect towards the Dalit sections, though such an approach might irk certain sections in the so-called upper class communities. Add 15% of total votes in the form of women and farmers to this 20%, which KCR would hope will be cast in favour of BRS, the ruling party will sit in a striking distance of winning another term in Telangana.”
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