Documents of ADATS - Book 1

8th Progress Report (January 1983)

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As soon as elections were declared, our Group sat down to discuss the various implications. We concluded that to attempt to bring in a fairly neutral state apparatus was the most congenial thing to continue our mass organization work. In the 1977-79 experience, a non Congress-I government proved to be far less repressive with their police/intelligence wings. So, at all costs, the anti-authoritarian opposition had to be supported. We had to explain to the people that this would not bring the rains, and the drought, or solve any of their material problems, but the final decision heavily depended on the candidate.

In the United Democratic Front that was formed, Bagepalli constituency was given to the Communist Party of India-Marxists and Appaswamy Reddy the leader who had struggled for 32 years to build up the Ryot Sangha in the taluk and district, was asked to contest. Everybody welcomed the decision.

There was, as we discovered later, an element of anti Congress wave in Karnataka but this did not play a very important role in Bagepalli taluk. Here the united opposition and pro-Appaswamy Reddy wave accounted for the landslide victory with a lead of over 12,000 votes, polling over 60% of the votes cast.