Tribals reject TRS in Kothagudem

Kothagudem: While the TRS wave swept across the State, it failed to impress the tribals of Kothgudem district who voted against the pink party in the Assembly elections held on December 7.

The elections results showed the district went against the ruling party. Significantly out of five constituencies in the district, four are reserved for Scheduled Caste people. The tribal constituencies include Bhadrachalam, Pinapaka, Yellandhu and Aswarao pet and people in these constituencies voted against TRS. No TRS party candidate could win a seat in the entire the Kothagudem district.

The only one general seat which was the sitting seat of the pink party was also lost to the Congress in these elections. The main reason that the people voted against the pink party candidates in the ST reserved constituencies, was the issue of podu land. Lakhs of tribal people in the Agency area had been doing farming on the podu land for centuries.

Telling the background of the whole issue, Akhila Bharatha Rythu Khooli Sangham State general secretary Ketchala Ranga Reddy said, “the district has a population of six to seven lakh tribals. They have been cultivating on these podu lands since the time immemorial but had been facing many problems regarding ownership of the land. Only two lakh people are having pattas to their lands and they are benefited by the government schemes.”

When the TRS government had announced various schemes for farmers like Rythu Bandhu and Rhythu Bheema and giving patta passbooks to the farmlands, the tribals in the Agency also expected the same facilities for them also. But the government excluded them from the scheme for the reason that the lands on which they had cultivating are marked as forest lands therefore, they could not avail the benefits of these schemes.

The tribals stages protests and Left parties also helped them to impress upon the government to get benefits of the Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bheema schemes but the TRS government did not heed to their demands.

When the elections came, the TRS candidates tried to placate the tribals and promised them that they would be given pattas for the podu lands. Even TRS chief and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced the podu land issue would be solved at his public rallies in Yellandhu, Manuguru (Pinapaka), Kothagudem and Sathupally. He said that when the TRS would form the government after the elections he would look into the matter and sort out the issue immediately.

Interestingly, the Prajakutami and Congress leaders also made similar kind of promise during the election campaigns. They also announced that when they would come to power in the State, pattas would be distributed to the tribal people. But the tribals did not believed in Chief Minister’s promise and termed it just as many other promises of the TRS made in the past. Rather, they believed in the opposition parties’ statements and supported and voted for their party candidates in the Assembly elections.

The results were shocking for the ruling party. In four ST constituencies, three went to the Congress and one bagged by the TDP. The general seat, Kothagudem, also went to the Congress. “The tribal people were expecting the podu pattas during the four years of the TRS rule but the government was dragging the issue.

During this period, the people made up their mind to teach a lesson to the ruling party in the elections,” he said. “The new TRS government will not give pattas definitely. But we will fight for our right in the coming days,” he added.