BRS's Decade in Power: Revisiting Electoral Promises and Governance in Telangana

While these widely popular schemes have been central to the BRS party's narrative for nearly a decade, they've failed to resonate with a significant proportion of the population in the state. This disconnect has stirred significant disappointment and dissatisfaction among the people of Telangana towards KCR and his party, primarily stemming from unfulfilled past promises. Therefore, it is critical to assess the BRS party's delivery on their pool commitments outlined in the 2014 and 2018 election manifestos for the people of Telangana, particularly focusing on crucial areas such as healthcare, education, housing, employment and a few other if not all. These aspects directly align with the broader interests of the masses.

In the 2014 elections, the TRS party pledged to build double bedroom houses with hall, kitchen, and toilet facilities for socio-economically marginalised sections. The Party proposed to construct these with a budget of three lakh rupees, asserting that the poor housing conditions under the previous government had led to oppressed caste communities living without dignity. However, despite these promises, there has been minimal construction in Mandal headquarters, with most of the double-bedroom houses constructed mainly in and around Hyderabad city, raising concerns that these constructions were primarily for publicity to create a larger discourse in the state rather than addressing the widespread housing needs of marginalized communities.

An elderly widow from the Scheduled Tribe Yerukula community in Nalgonda expressed her concern, stating, "We haven't seen any new houses coming up in our village or where my relatives live after 2014. Only the old houses from before Telangana was formed are here.”

The healthcare sector faces similar challenges. In 2014, the KCR pledged to establish 24 super-specialty hospitals in each district, considering the then-proposed 24 districts. Today, Telangana has 33 districts. However, a decade later, not a single new hospital was constructed in the new state. Recently, foundation stones were laid in the Mahaboobnagar and Warangal districts. Additionally, BRS promised the construction of 100-bed area hospitals in each Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) constituency, but little progress has been made in this regard.

The ruling BRS party has failed to fulfil numerous promises outlined in its 2014 manifesto, such as allocating three acres of land to landless active farming Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes families, decentralising governance across urban cities other than Hyderabad, providing internet facilities to every village, offering regular grants to universities, establishing a tribal university, and increasing reservations for Muslim and tribal communities. Despite nearly a decade passing, the promised 12% reservation for Telangana’s  Muslims has remained stagnant, with an increase to only 10% for Scheduled Tribal communities in September 2022. Notably, the fulfilment of these manifesto pledges appears to be below 10%.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the introduction of Rythu Bandhu and Bhima schemes drew significant attention, especially within the farming community, influencing both state and national policies such as the PM KISAN Samman Nidhi. Despite the ruling party's inability to fulfil the 2014 election manifesto, they secured a significant victory by allocating substantial funds to the small land-owning farmers to large absentee landlord communities. This move notably impacted rural areas, with specific MLAs receiving substantial sums based on large land holdings, for example for more than 50 acres of land. However, it's crucial to note that tenant farmers, who constitute a distressed segment within the farming community, were not eligible for this scheme who majorly belong to the SC-ST-OBC and other marginalised sections.

Further, promises made during the 2018 elections by KCR and his party to provide unemployment allowances aimed to address job scarcity between 2014 and 2018. Regrettably, even after five years, not a single unemployed person has received this allowance, casting doubt on the BRS's commitment to fulfilling promises. Despite a decade in governance, the BRS and Chief KCR are facing unprecedented challenges compared to past elections. KCR's administration struggles to address the long-standing demands of dalit, adivasi, Muslim, and Bahujan communities, constituting a significant majority. Backward caste communities, comprising over half of Telangana's population, still lack adequate representation within the BRS party.

While KCR publicly says his policy is for non-communal secular politics, governance appears tied to feudal legacies. The party's limited representation of diverse communities, especially women and marginalised castes, has been a persistent issue in past elections, showing no signs of improvement in this election's seat allocation as well.

Telangana, formed as a separate state out of student movements and social struggles across the state, hasn't witnessed substantial progress in social welfare despite its statehood. Dissatisfaction among unemployed youth, working classes, students, academic and activist communities and the governance failures over the past decade have disrupted the BRS's previously smooth trajectories. 

The emerging momentum of Congress post the success in the neighbouring Karnataka Assembly elections and the Bahujan Samaj Party's entry, spearheaded by former IPS officer Dr Praveen Kumar, into the upcoming Telangana election, does indeed pose significant challenges for the BRS. Praveen Kumar's notable influence, particularly among the youth, adds an intriguing dynamic to the upcoming political landscape.

Ashok Danavath is a postgraduate scholar from Telangana, India, and was formerly a Government of India National Overseas Scholarship Fellow at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. He currently works as a Senior Researcher for the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR).