The lack of a big theme or campaign message from any of the major nationwide alliances with general elections just a month away is somewhat surprising. The current economic scenario would charge an election campaign almost anywhere in the world — it did in the US. One wonders why there aren’t a slew of proposals and heated debates between political parties with an election just weeks away.

Except, perhaps, in one state where things are beginning to shape up nicely, and where new ideas are being floated as a precursor to a mighty electoral scrap — Andhra Pradesh. Some of the extra bite in the campaign there might have to simply do with the fact that there is a simultaneous poll for both the Lok Sabha and the state legislature — so there are two prizes at stake. Also, the contest is three-way — Congress vs TDP-TRS-Left vs Praja Rajyam, a contest that has both new combinations and fresh faces.

But the importance of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra should not be underestimated either. Remember that Andhra played a major role in sweeping the UPA to power in 2004 — the Congress won more than 30 seats out of its total 145 in Andhra alone. Before that, in 1999, the TDP’s sweeping victory helped Chandrababu Naidu support and influence the NDA government for almost five years. So one expects a tough fight — and that always makes for an interesting campaign.

It helps also that Andhra politics has a fascinating and colourful history. It is the one state where populism has been a recurrent and dominant feature of almost every campaign in recent times. The presence of prominent film personalities and celebrities, from the rise of the mercurial N.T. Rama Rao in the 1980s to the wild-card Chiranjeevi this time round, adds an air of unpredictability and excitement. That aside, there is almost always a frantic showering of promises about a number of populist schemes — to name just two, the Congress offered free electricity to all last time and the TDP had earlier offered rice at Rs 2 per kg. And these played no small part in their election victories. This time around the competitive populism has again begun in earnest — the TDP is offering free colour TVs, and the Congress is promising to continue with free power.

... contd.