The politically powerful and entrepreneurially significant Kamma community is now stranded on a crossroad. The number of Kamma MLAs, MPs is coming down significantly. Their say in the political decisions too has come down considerably.
Before the bifurcation of the Telugu states, there used to be 50 Kamma MLAs. The number has started coming down since 2004. There used to be up to 10 MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from the community. But now, there are just 17 Kamma MLAs in AP and five in Telangana. The cumulative number is about half of what it used to be once. Four of the 17 Kamma MLAs in AP belong to the YSRCP.
In Parliament, there are only five Kamma MPs. Two of them - Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu and MV Satyanarayana - are from the YSRCP, while Galla Jaydev, Kesineni Nani and Kaakamedala Ravindra are from the TDP. There are no Kamma MPs from Telangana. The assembly has Kamma MLAs from Khammam, Jubilee Hills, Serilingampalli, Sirpur Kagaz Nagar, Miryalguda and Kukatpalli only.
Political watchers say that till now, the number of Kammas has never come down below 30. But this time time around, their number is just 22 in both the Telugu states. This is for the first time after 2009 that the Kamma MLAs are so fewer in number.
Before the bifurcation of the Telugu states, there used to be 50 Kamma MLAs. The number has started coming down since 2004. There used to be up to 10 MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from the community. But now, there are just 17 Kamma MLAs in AP and five in Telangana. The cumulative number is about half of what it used to be once. Four of the 17 Kamma MLAs in AP belong to the YSRCP.
In Parliament, there are only five Kamma MPs. Two of them - Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu and MV Satyanarayana - are from the YSRCP, while Galla Jaydev, Kesineni Nani and Kaakamedala Ravindra are from the TDP. There are no Kamma MPs from Telangana. The assembly has Kamma MLAs from Khammam, Jubilee Hills, Serilingampalli, Sirpur Kagaz Nagar, Miryalguda and Kukatpalli only.
Political watchers say that till now, the number of Kammas has never come down below 30. But this time time around, their number is just 22 in both the Telugu states. This is for the first time after 2009 that the Kamma MLAs are so fewer in number.