Oops! What a year it was? That was the feeling perhaps everybody in Andhra Pradesh might have got as they crossed the midnight of Thursday when they crossed 2009 and stepped into 2010.
Every new year begins with a new hope, new aspiration and new optimism. Same was the case with 2009. But within a week, it turned out to be a bad beginning. Satyam Computers, the most prestigious IT company from Andhra Pradesh, went into doldrums with the exposure of Rs 7,800 crore accounting scandal by none other than its own chairman B Ramalinga Raju. The episode has resulted in crumbling of IT sector, which was already in troubles with the global meltdown that began a few months ago. Millions of investors who had put in hard earned money into the Satyam stocks, just because it is owned by a Telugu industrialist, had become paupers overnight. A bad omen for the bad days to come!
Then came the elections to the state assembly and parliament. Once again, the people were optimistic of a bright future. So, without thinking twice, they voted the Congress back to power and legendary Y S Rajasekhara Reddy returned to the hot seat. Unfortunately, he had to face an untimely death in a helicopter crash within three and a half months. And his demise has completely changed the face of Andhra Pradesh; to say bluntly, the state has gone to dogs. The people are divided on regional lines, thanks to greedy politicians, who are taking advantage of the absence of the tall leader like YSR.
Unfortunately again, YSR’s son Jaganmohan Reddy has failed to capitalise on the situation. His overambitious nature and lack of proper strategy to convince the high command to consider his candidature for the chief minister post led to an uncertainty about his political future. And by taking an Telangana stand in Parliament, Jagan did yet another political blunder, as he is being viewed as a villain in the Telangana region.
Of course, it was definitely a bad year for Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who was desperate to stage a come back to power by hoodwinking the people with a number of freebies and even giving up his traditional ideology of a united state. But his lack of credibility has ditched him, as the people did not believe him at all. It was a disappointing year for megastar-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, too. His Praja Rajyam Party failed to make an impact on the people. He ended up with a poor third with just 18 assembly seats and zero Lok Sabha seats. And his somersault on the Telangana issue has led to complete wiping out of the party in the region; and the party itself is in doldrums with several of its top leaders deserting the sinking ship.
And with regard to chief minister K Rosaiah, it was the most turbulent period of his five decade old political career. Having taken over as the chief minister after the tragic demise of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Rosaiah had to struggle in the initial days to gain hold on the party MLAs who were reluctant to accept his leadership. His own cabinet colleague K Surekha resigned, stating that she would work only under the leadership of Jaganmohan.
It was followed by the outbreak of dreaded Swine Flu across the state and more than 50 people died in Hyderabad alone. Rosaiah had to struggle a lot to contain the epidemic.
Then there were the unprecedented floods to Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers that wreaked havoc in Kurnool and coastal Andhra districts. He had to virtually spend sleepless nights to overcome the crisis. As everything appeared settling down and party president Sonia Gandhi got him elected as the CLP leader, he had to face the trouble in the form of TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao’s fast unto death, which finally led to the UPA government announcing the process for separate Telangana state and in turn, the state plunged into a political turmoil.
For KCR, it was a year of downs and ups. His joining hands with Telugu Desam and the Communists before the elections; the allegations of sale of tickets in the elections and his immediate somersault into the NDA camp, made him the most unscrupulous politician. His party put up a disastrous performance in the elections. He kept low for some time, but rose like a phoenix after the death of YSR to resurrect the Telangana movement. Taking advantage of the Hyderabad-as-free zone issue, KCR relaunched his movement and his fast unto death drama forced the UPA high command to make a favourable statement for Telangana.
Result: there is a virtual civil war in the state now. As the year came to an end, the people of both Telangana and Andhra region are on the streets fighting with one another. Hatred, animosity and mistrust are prevailing everywhere.
So, what is in store for the people in 2010? Will AP remain united or divided? Are we heading towards prosperity or disaster? Only time can find an answer!
