Andhra Biryani of Local Spices

Ideology is not an issue in Andhra Pradesh. It is a choice between Jagan Mohan Reddy's welfare schemes and Chandrababu Naidu's development agenda

- Satish Padmanabhan, Rajahmundry

IT has been 10 years since the separation, but Andhra Pradesh (AP) is still hurting for Hyderabad. It was the soul of our state, says a fisherman by the banks of the serene Godavari on a balmy, breezy evening a little out of Rajahmundry (or Rajamahendravaram now). It was the best jewel. ‘Heera tha hamara’, says a lady selling ripe, bright yellow Banganapalle mangoes in a market in Vijayawada. “I will never vote for the Congress because they split the state,” remarks an elderly autorickshaw driver in Guntur.

Not that the Congress counts in these elections in AP, simultaneously being held for both the assembly and the Lok Sabha. Or the BJP, for that matter. It’s a straight fight between the two regional parties—the incumbent Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party or the YSRCP headed by the youthful Jagan Mohan Reddy and the veteran N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP (Telugu Desam Party). The BJP is the junior partner in alliance with the TDP and Pawan Kalyan’s party (actor and brother of actor-cum-politician Chiranjeevi), the Jana Sena.

So much so that in the mega Narendra Modi rally in Rajahmundry, the PM gets to speak only after Kalyan finishes his piece—a rarity for Modi in any state campaign— and by when many of those who have come (or have been fetched) from before noon for the 4.00 pm rally have started to stream out of the venue. Surprisingly, Modi devotes considerable time in his speech going after the Congress which is hardly a contender in Rajahmundry. The rest of the speech is about local issues, stalled projects, rampant corruption and policy paralysis in the state.