Is democracy in danger ?

As it is said, the role of opposition party is as important as that of the ruling party. They ensure that the acts of the ruling party are not detrimental to the interest of general public or to the nation at large. But the situation in the two Telugu speaking States (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) have a completely different story to tell.

The recent winning of Jagan Mohan Reddy has brought a smile on the faces of people from Andhra Pradesh. The happiness is because they are expecting to witness a new era of development with new leader or party coming into power.

YSR Congress Party was established in 2011 after the demise of the then Chief Mininster Y S Raja Sekhar Reddy, father of Jagan Mohan Reddy. Since its inception, it worked as a strong opposition party in AP Assembly. In 2011, YSRCP, won 38 Per Cent of the total assembly and stood as a strong opposition to TDP, the then party in power. But One can clearly understand here that, though the party couldn't come to power it was a watchdog of people's right in Andhra Pradesh. In other words, we can say that it was a guardian of democracy protecting the anti-poor policies of the government.

In recent 2019 assembly elections, YSRCP has formed the government with almost 85.70 of the Assembly seats whereas the TDP could manage to get only 13 % of the total assembly seats.

When it comes to the scenario of Telangana state, since its formation, it was dominated by Telangana Rashtra Samithi party. The party itself was formed to make Telangana region as a separate state from erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. After the formation of Telangana State, in 2014, elections took place where TRS formed the government with 63 seats whereas Indian National Congress was an opposition party with 22 Seats in the House.

In comparative analysis of Telugu Speaking states, AP had a strong opposition than TS in 2014 elections. In recent 2018 assembly elections, Telangana had a contrary situation where TRS formed the government with almost 85 Percent seats of total assembly on par with YRSCP in AP. The recent assembly elections in AP and TS bring the telugu speaking states on similar lines, that is with no strong opposition or in fact with no opposition at all.

Democracy, when it comes to elections part, is nothing but a number game. The policies of any government are valid only if majority of the people in legislature accept it. When the majority of the legislators are from a single political party it will become an autocracy rule in the name of democracy. As everyone knows, strong opposition is mainstay of democracy, which is lacking in Telugu speaking states. It is high time for everyone to witness the rule in these states, whether it falsifies the existing theories on democracy or not.

-Mr. Satish, Faculty