Andhra Pradesh's ruling party, the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) secular credentials have faced a battering in the recent past with Chandrababu Naidu’s over-enthusiastic embrace of Hindutva political narratives.
What is the Issue?
A Muslim vendor, Shaikh Shavali from Andhra Pradesh, faced harassment at the Samakka Saralamma Jatara in Telangana after being confronted by right-wing YouTubers over allegations related to “food jihad.”
The poor Muslim vendor was accused by these right-wing YouTubers of deliberately contaminating the Kova (Khoya) buns they were selling at Rs 10 at the Jatara festival. The incident, which involved public questioning and demands for proof of citizenship, led to widespread condemnation and expressions of solidarity from political leaders and the public at large, with many questioning how such an incident could happen in a TDP-ruled state.
In a desperate bid to refurbish the party’s secular credentials, senior leader Nara Lokesh recently reached out to the Muslim youth. But the damage seems to have been done.
Communalising Food
Kova bun is a popular South Indian snack made using sugar, milk and durum wheat semolina. The Sammakka Jatara is a popular tribal festival observed biennially in the Mulugu district of Telangana that draws lakhs of pilgrims, including a large number of non-tribals. Petty traders flock to the festival hoping to earn a livelihood.
Videos of the Muslim vendor's shattered shop were widely shared by the right-wing ecosystem in a bid to rouse communal feelings. However, such an attack on the livelihood of poor traders on religious lines drew huge backlash in social media.
Responding to the ongoing controversy, Andhra Pradesh minister and son of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Nara Lokesh, reacted on social media, expressing support to Shaikh Vali.
"Dear Brother Vali, I am deeply sorry that you had to endure this. Such divisive and communal behavior has no place in our Telugu society, which has always stood for harmony, mutual respect, and brotherhood. I will meet you soon and look forward to tasting your famous Khoya bun! We stand together," Lokesh posted on Twitter.
Though Nara Lokesh’s unequivocal condemnation of such divisive and communal behaviour is appreciable, his inability to address the political factors that are fuelling such a communal frenzy across the nation including the Telugu states is regrettable.
TDP's Response Underwhelming
Why did Lokesh respond to the incident and assure he would stand with the victims?
The ruling TDP has not only electorally aligned with the saffron brigade but even embraced the Hindutva socio-political narrative in its fight with its arch-rival, Jaganmohan Reddy.
Meanwhile, the party cannot afford to alienate Muslim and Christian voters who in large numbers still vote for the TDP. In fact, this fear of losing the minority vote haunted the TDP when it was toying with the idea of allying with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run-up to the 2024 Assembly elections. However, the strong anti-incumbency against YS Jagan did not harm the TDP in the 2024 Assembly elections, though the party joined BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Besides, there are two reasons why the minority voters did not desert the TDP despite its alliance with BJP, as in the case of Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S) in neighbouring Karnataka.
Firstly, the BJP is not the major NDA partner in Andhra Pradesh. Secondly, the linguistic identity prevails over the religious identity in Andhra Pradesh that has no history of competitive communal polarisation.
Saffron Shift
The TDP, under the helm of Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy, Pawan Kalyan, have enthusiastically embraced Hindutva politics after coming to power in 2024. Pawan Kalyan, who earlier avowed his admiration for revolutionary hero Che Guevara, has even transformed himself into a protagonist and protector of Sanatana Dharma. Chandrababu Naidu, off late, has started speaking the language of the Sangh Pariwar.
Despite the overwhelming mandate in their favour, both Naidu and Pawan Kalyan took this divisive line to politically exploit Jagan’s personal religious beliefs.
Jaganmohan Reddy, unlike his father, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, has often overtly expressed his allegiance and adherence to Christianity. The ongoing controversy over the alleged contamination of the Tirumala laddu and similar allegations of adulteration in other temples has to be seen in this context.
Calculated Strategy
The TDP leadership believes that in the absence of the BJP’s strong presence in the state and the saffron party being its ally, the Hidutva tilt will benefit it politically.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress party, led by YS Jagan, enjoys a formidable support among minority voters, though this support did not save him from a political tsunami due to huge anti-incumbency. On the contrary, Hindu voters did not hesitate to give YSR Congress 151 seats in 2019, despite knowing Jagan's personal religious beliefs.
This leaves the TDP in a catch-22 situation. The party responded by walking an extra mile to display its secular credentials in the wake of its overall saffron embrace.
In an interview with NDTV, Nara Lokesh said that his party considers Muslim reservations as a social justice measure, thus, clearly demarcating with it’s saffron ally which calls it as appeasement politics. Lokesh seems to now have come out openly against the machinations of fringe elements within the saffron pariwar.
However, no Hindutva organisation has publicly associated with the right-wing YouTubers either, emboldening Nara Lokesh to so vehemently express solidarity with Shaikh Vali.
Thus the TDP leadership wants to enjoy the fruits of its saffron tilt while insulating itself from possible adverse political consequences of such minority bashing by right wing eco system.
The TDP could continue with such politics of duplicity because the YSR Congress refuses to stridently oppose Hindutva politics politically or ideologically. He is wary of Central agencies which are probing a host of cases pending against him.
YS Jagan is aware of the fact that the Modi regime unabashedly uses central agencies against Opposition leaders.
The politics of Andhra Pradesh are polarised between the TDP-led NDA and the YSR Congress party, resulting in an absence of any credible challenge to Hindutva politics, practiced by BJP’s allies like the TDP and Jana Sena out of political expediency rather than any ideological commitment.
(Prof K Nageshwar is a senior political analyst, faculty member of Osmania University, and a former MLC. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)