Escape to freedom for Anantapur villages

By Mudiraj Gopal

Unlike the rest of the country, for the residents of Putlur and Yellanur mandals in Anantapur district, independence may finally be dawning on April 23, 2009, when Andhra Pradesh votes in the second phase of elections. Caught in the grip of two powerful warlords, the villagers of these two mandals have gone through a living hell till now.

Ramanjaneyulu of Putlur could not complete his Indiramma house as the officials stopped the assistance all of a sudden. When asked why, they said his name did not figure in the list of beneficiaries drawn by the district administration. Brahmaiah was denied an agriculture loan because he was not liked by the local political leaders.

Every document was in order but the bank officials said he did not get the ‘right’ approval. Kambagiri, a 50-year-old farmer, and his family have never exercised their franchise.

This is because somebody else votes on his behalf without his knowledge or consent.

All this is set to change this time around. Thanks to the delimitation process, these two mandals have been shifted from the Dharmavaram general assembly constituency to Singhanamala SC reserved seat. Trapped, coerced and dominated by rival faction leaders — J C Diwakar Reddy and M Pedda Reddy — from nearby Tadipatri till now, the inhabitants of these two mandals are a liberated lot now. And for the first time, Kambagiri and his family can actually end up casting their vote on Thursday.

Rivalry between the two Reddys had led to the Putlur and Yellanur mandals as being described as the worst faction-ridden mandals in the entire state. Murders and kidnappings are so gruesomely executed that many outsiders faint when police officials recall some of the most violent cases.

The last one such incident was the murder of former MLA M Suryapratap Reddy, a native of Timmanapalli village in Putlur mandal. On an April day in 2006, Suryapratap was waylaid when he alighted from a train at Tadipatri railway station. Chilli powder was thrown at his eyes, and he was chased and hacked to death with sickles and swords. Recently, some families of a particular village were asked to leave the area temporarily by the Pedda Reddy group as Diwakar Reddy was due to visit the area. The reason was they did not want to take the responsibility if anything happened to the particular families during the visit of the panchayat raj minister.

Locals claim the control of these two warlords over their territory is complete. “They control everything, local banks, mandal offices, police stations, land transactions, benefits of government schemes etc. Living outside the warlords’ influence is unthinkable. If they think that a family is chartering an independent path, then the reprisal begins with a warning, denial of benefits, non-cooperation from banks, police station and government offices, and finally murder. But most of these poor families do not go that far,” said a resident of Vennapusapalli, a violence-ridden village under Yellanur mandal. With the two mandals being shifted to Singanamala assembly seat, the villagers are hopeful that the warlords will cease their hold on them as the villagers are no more voters for either of the warlord.

“We are looking forward to vote on Thursday and in the coming days, hope to exercise our freedom in all other activities,” said a resident of Cherlopalle, who agreed to speak only if he was not identified.