Working Paper: 397

Politics in the State of Telangana: Identity,
Representation and Democracy

Anil Kumar Vaddiraju

 

Abstract

In the state of Telangana, the party that spearheaded the demand for statehood enjoys massive support and became the heir to the movement and the throne. This, however, also comes with an enormous burden to lift the state from social and economic backwardness and poverty. So far, the TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samiti) has deftly managed the politics, meeting some expectations of the people. However, the state’s politics happens in the context of a weak opposition and a weak civil society which have failed to provide robust opposition. Besides, the politics in the state is characterized by high stakes on symbolic politics. While the TRS government has so far sufficiently met the symbolic and emotional needs of the people, the real burden of raising the standards of living of the people and meeting their concrete expectations depends on going beyond these, and translating the prolific promises made into reality.

 

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