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Pilla Bewarse
Username: Primary
Post Number: 8
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 212.117.156.53
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 10, 2004 - 11:29 pm: |    |
The rise of Kammas, to which TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu belong, is different from the usual empowerment stories we come across. Unlike the celebrated cases of the Yadavs of Bihar or the Jatavs of Uttar Pradesh, it is a tale of a caste using its economic wealth to overcome the handicap of numbers and gain political power.
The Kammas, who emerged as a dominant player in Andhra Pradesh ever since N T Rama Rao burst on to the political centrestage, comprise a paltry 6% of the state’s population. Not just that, they are concentrated in seven districts. And their rise makes for an even more absorbing reading considering that a vast majority of them were marginal farmers and landless labourers just five decades ago. The key to their success lies in their willingness take risks. The Kammas can legitimately claim the credit for introducing modern agricultural techniques in the state. Their influence now extends beyond the state, and they control the economic activity in parts of Karnataka, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.
The economic and political clout of the community have incurred the wrath of the other castes. A measure of the resentment among other communities against their mobility can be seen from the regular appeals from other communities against selling land to the Kammas.
Coming back to the community’s political prominence, film industry has played a major role. Kammas now virtually control the industry and barring a few, every hero, producer, director and even light boys belong to this community. While N T Rama Rao was easily the most popular personality to emerge from the Telugu film world, other members of the community too made their mark. Most of the film studios set up in and around Hyderabad in subsequent years were owned by the Kammas. These include the Annapurna studios, built by Akkineni Nageshwara Rao and the Padmalaya studios of noted actor G Krishna. Another prominent studio is owned by Mr D Rama Naidu, a TDP member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, entered the Guinness book of records for producing over 100 films.
Even though most of the Kammas still survive on agriculture, quite a few of them shifted their gaze to the world of industry and business. The industrial revolution touched the community through the efforts of two enterprising leaders. The Krishna Commercial Products (KCP) was set up in Krishna district by Velegapudi Ramakrishna, while in the neighbouring West Godavari district, Mullapudi Harishchandra Prasad laid the foundation for Andhra Sugars, around which several profit-making subsidiaries came up. The next generation of Kamma industrialists was led by MVVS Murthy, a TDP member of the just-dissolved Lok Sabha who migrated to Vishakapatnam district and set up a number of industrial plants there. The Lanco group of industries with Rs 1,700 crore turnover in power generation and software development sectors, Vijaya Electricals, the Srujana Group of industries in ceramics manufacturing, NATCO farm and Bharat Biotech in pharmaceuticals, Progressive Constructions owned by Congress leader KS Rao are among the hundred examples of Kamma entrepreneurial skills. It wouldn’t be off the mark to say that they that they virtually dominate all the sectors.
Education was another area which came their influence. Starting off as philanthropic activity, mainly to bail the under-privileged members of their community, it became a commercial activity at the hands of the Kammas. They were the first to realise the profit-earning capacity of educational bodies. Today, some of the most efficient and professional institutions are run by the Kammas. The Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management run by MVVS Murthy is considered among the best engineering and management college in the country.
Having tread the road to economic power, the Kammas very soon use their new-found clout to dominate the state’s polity. The Congress could not be their vehicle for political power as it was dominated by the Reddys and Brahmins, who were traditionally hostile to the Kammas.
While the poor Kammas took part in the freedom struggle, the rich members stayed away. Their first experiment was the formation of Justice Party. When this failed to click, they floated the Swatantra Party. As these parties did not help them in securing enough space in the political arena, they started infiltrating the Communist Parties. The cream of the Left parties comprises the Kammas. Former Prime Minister, late Indira Gandhi’s move to implement land reforms in the state annoyed the Kammas. The richer members of the community felt particularly threatened as they had to part with their land holdings. It was at this point that N T Rama Rao emerged at the scene in the eighties by floating the Telugu Desam Party. He successfully tapped the resentment among the OBCs and SCs at their perceived neglect by the Congress. The rest, as they say, is history.
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babu already chala threads paddayi. 