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MUNUGODE, NALGONDA DIST: Standing in the warm sun outside their homes, villagers near Chundur look disinterestedly as a convoy of vehicles passes by, raising a mini dust storm. The leaders in the convoy wave at them furiously, but are met mostly with a stiff, nonchalant response. A few people return the courtesy waves and namastes but would record nothing more than minimum cordiality on an emotional meter.
They are reluctant to talk, but concede that they have forced the particular party to pay a small sum even to stand outside their homes for a few minutes.
“This is for a video, which they will release on social media. It will be made to appear as if our entire village will vote for that party. So we made them pay for it in cash in advance,” says Eshwar.
“There was a time when we used to go to hear leaders we loved, or even those who we did not vote for, like NTR or YSR. Now, it is all about money,” he says. “Byelections have made our Dasara and Diwali happy.”
He runs a small shop but he has made money, like never before, in the last two months.
After the convoy goes off into a distance, the villagers resume their mostly unexciting and slow lives; giving a sense of what will descend on the area after the voting gets over on November 3 – irrelevance, a return to the normalcy before Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy decided to resign from his party and move to the BJP.
“There was no development before, and there will be no development later. The only gains to be made are now, in the form of cash,” some others chip in.
In cynical times, voters in Telangana in general, and Nalgonda district in particular, are extremely well informed. “We don’t watch TV much, mostly YouTube videos. Teenmar Mallanna is popular but we see many others too,” they reveal.
On petrol and diesel prices, they attributed it to two factors – Russian war in Ukraine and high government taxes, including the fact that the fuel taxes are amongst the highest in Telangana.
In Munugode town, people are still busy recovering from the roadshows of the last few days. “Morning to evening, some leader or the other is around to tell us who to vote for,” says Narasamma. “Some say vote for Car, some say for Flower. We used to vote for Hand before.”
As I look on silently, making notes, she naughtily asks, “Won’t you ask for whom I will vote for?”
“What would you reply if I did,” I asked her.
“I will say that I have not made up my mind… but I have,” she replies with a triumphant smile.
In front of a liquor store, there are just two people standing. Neither seems drunk, or intent on buying. The store does not have much stock, or maybe that it is how it must be here. “No one has been buying liquor,” says one of them.
When poked to speak about the free liquor supply, the man on learning his words might make it to an English newspaper, asked, “Why don’t the Election people ban all liquor for 15 days before elections? Not just bypolls, even main elections? Will people die if there is no booze for two to three weeks?”
The issues of the people are elementary – free homes, jobs, inflation, roads and pension for senior citizens. Most of the issues like alleged poaching of legislators, accusations about the BJP candidate getting huge contracts or TRS becoming a national party don’t seem to make any impact, despite high awareness, including the withdrawal of State permission to CBI from investigation in Telangana.
“Political party leaders speak about all that,” two old ladies sitting under a tree’s shade in a village near Nampally explained. “We are getting pensions. We are happy.”
Youth, especially the slightly more educated, are restless. They participate with vigour in the campaign, often with a little more zeal for the party they support. Middle-aged men, mostly farm hands or employed in daily gigs, are happy to hold any flag, raise any slogan, as long as they are paid.
Speaking after a little reluctance, and the usual “have not decided about my vote” routine, one of them says, “no improvement in education. We only want them to help get fees reimbursed and our children to study. Now it is not happening.”
Some of them have their teenaged children working in some political campaign or the other for the last several weeks.
“There are manifestoes and promises, chargesheets and allegations. Nothing has made our lives better. The only good to happen has been the bypoll. If we vote for Rajgopal, maybe the saga of bypolls will continue. Like a gift from Munugode to another constituency,” said an old man.
All political parties, analysts, surveyors and journalists can play their games; but the electorate has become wiser too. They are enjoying the attention, gaming the game and will have the last laugh.
“As long as political parties can’t know who we voted for there… inside the voting booth…” he says, “elections are the best time for citizens.”
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