Telangana: Why CPI(M) made a Dalit as state secretary at last

The party’s state committee that met in Sangareddy, a town near Hyderabad, had unanimously elected Wesley as the secretary of the state. He replaced 70-year-old veteran Tammineni Veerabhadram, a former MP and an upper-caste Kamma leader.

Notably, the majority of the state committee members favoured Wesley, who is known among the cadre as ideologically sound and articulate, over another veteran S Veeraiah, a backward ‘Munnuru Kapu’ leader.

According to party insiders, under the garb of holding a unanimous election, a bitter intra-Kamma caste fight took place to gain control over the party.

No lower caste leader

In one form or the other, Telugu states have been dominant players in the Communist movement. The states have produced many national leaders who led heroic battles against oppressive feudalism and the governments it supported. But, in its century-long history, ironically, none of the Communist-Marxist parties (CPI and CPM) have elected a leader from the lower castes to lead the organisation.

For a change, the Communist Party of India (CPI) unit of Andhra Pradesh appointed a BC (Yadava) leader K Ramakrishan as secretary, after the division of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The two Communist parties have always been controlled by two land-owning Shudra upper castes, Kamma and Reddy, like their bourgeoisie counterparts such as Congress, Telugu Desam, Bharata Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and YSR Congress.

According to veteran journalist and political observer, Tadi Prakash, the history of CPI is dominated by Reddys, while that of CPM by Kammas.

“Barring P Sundarayya, a Reddy, all CPM leaders came from the Kamma caste. Similarly, in CPI, excepting Chandra Rajeswar Rao, a Kamma, its leaders and prominent personalities like Neelam Rajasekhar Reddy, Yeddula Eshwar Reddy, Gujjula Yalamanda Reddy, Ravi Narayana Reddy, Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy are all from the Reddy caste,” Prakash reiterated.

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A new dimension

A Madiga by caste, 56-year-old Wesley’s appointment acquired a new dimension since it happened barely a week after a fellow Madiga leader, Manda Krishna Madiga, was awarded the Padma Shri in the public affairs category.

Krishna Madiga, though not a member, has been sailing with the BJP after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public support to SC categorisation. Against this backdrop, Wesley’s elevation has triggered a curious debate in the state: whether there is any change of heart in the CPM in Telangana to move closer to Dalits and Bahujans or Wesley’s appointment was only an outcome of an intra-caste fight between two state leaders BV Raghavulu (politburo member) and Tammineni Veerabhadram (outgoing state secretary).

Andhra Pradesh created history when the Indian National Congress appointed Damodaram Sanjeevayya, a Dalit, as chief minister of the state in 1960.

A Gandhian and a poet, Sanjeevayya was not picked up for his leadership qualities. The mantle fell on Sanjeevayya as chief minister Neelam Sanjiva Reddy chose to quit after the stricture from the Supreme Court in a case related to nationalisation of bus routes in the state. Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru recalled him to Delhi and made him AICC President. But his departure unleashed a fierce faction fight in the party to grab the CM’s post. This forced the high command to appoint Sanjeevayya as the chief minister.

The infuriated Reddys united and went against him. They abused him with caste slurs till he was replaced again by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in 1962. Though Sanjeevaiah led the party to victory in the 1962 elections, the Reddys did not relent till he was shunted out of the state. That was the end of Dalit talk in Congress.

Also read: Telangana | Congress, CM Revanth had no role in state formation, says former BRS minister

Dalit as chief minister

Between 1962 and 2014, all the chief ministers were from upper castes such as Reddy, Velama, Brahmin and Vysya. To placate the Dalits, Congress chose to appoint two Dalit leaders as Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, which became insignificant whenever the chief minister was an upper caste leader.

The ‘Dalit as chief minister’ issue again gained currency during the Telangana movement, when Telangana Rashtra Samiti (now Bharata Rashtra Samiti) president KCR announced that a separate Telangana state would have a Dalit as Chief Minister. However, when statehood looked certain, he realised that it was too big a post for a Dalit and kept the post for himself and even groomed his son to be his successor.

After 10 years, when the topic of Dalit leadership had become obsolete, CPM brought it to the fore by electing Wesley as party secretary. Party sources confided that it was not the ideological shift or genuine urge to move closer to lower castes that was responsible for Wesley’s appointment.

Real reason

“A bitter fight between Raghavulu and Veerabhadram to control the party preceded the election. Raghavulu promoted S Veeraiah for the post. To contain Raghavulu’s interference in Telangana matters, Veerabhadram fielded Wesley. The majority of the state committee members, who were fed up with Raghavulu’s dictatorial grip, favored Wesley,” said a senior leader on condition of anonymity.

Still the district committees oppose the grip of the Kamma duo, Raghavulu and Veerabhadram over the party. They ran the party like a regional party suppressing any dissent, said a BC leader of the party.

“What Wesley inherited is a skeleton. Many senior leaders left the party and the cadre is disillusioned. The party’s anti-Telangana stand during the movement and its love for BRS later, made the party the butt of jokes in the state,” he told The Federal.

Dubbing Wesley’s appointment as a belated decision, Karli Srinivasulu, a former professor of political science from Osmania University, said the new leader would have to negotiate many challenges to make the party relevant in the state.

“Telangana is in the grip of many crises due to weavers and farmers’ suicides and disillusionment among OBCs, Dalits, and youths. Farmers are fighting against ethanol plants and irrational land acquisitions by the government. A new phenomenon that people form themselves into JACs to fight for justice is being seen in the state. Unless the CPM becomes part of these movements, a mere appointment of a Dalit leader takes it nowhere,” felt Prof Karli Srinivasulu.

Reaching out

However, John Wesley exuded confidence that CPM would evolve a new programme to reach out to Dalits and Bahujan.

“Due to lack of awareness, these classes are moving to Congress or BJP. We will concentrate on working with these sections and expose the fallacy of supporting these parties, especially the BJP,” Wesley told The Federal.