A political leader’s influence lasts only as long as he holds power. Once he loses it, even those who once rushed to obey him stop taking his calls.
This harsh truth has once again played out in East Godavari district, involving a veteran politician who once wielded significant clout in Andhra Pradesh politics for leading a major caste movement.
Ahead of the last Assembly elections, this senior leader joined the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and even changed his caste suffix after the party lost power. Since then, he has virtually disappeared from active politics.
When the YSRCP was in power, the leader used his proximity to the ruling party to recommend local youth for jobs in a prominent corporate group based in the district — a company with strong political ties and wide business interests. Many of those recommendations were accepted, and jobs were secured.
But after the change of government in Andhra Pradesh and the economic slowdown, the company started cost-cutting, laying off several employees, including many hired through his recommendations.
Distressed by the layoffs, the leader tried to intervene on behalf of the employees, reaching out to the company’s top executives. But this time, nobody answered his calls.
The same people who once responded promptly now preferred to stay silent, no longer compelled by political pressure.
“This shows the brutal reality of politics,” said a source. “When a leader is close to power, every call is returned. Once he loses that power, the same people pretend he doesn’t exist.”
The episode has become a topic of quiet talk in East Godavari’s political and business circles, underlining the temporary nature of political influence in a power-driven system