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Kuppam, on Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, has done well by Chandrababu Naidu. This is the seat Naidu won in 1989. Since then, the town, known only for granite quarries at one time, has developed into a gentler, more wholesome version of Bangalore: With broad roads, shady trees, hospitals, a highly efficient drip irrigation system based on Israeli technology and the ubiquitous presence of Naidu who’s transformed the region.
Naidu hardly ever comes here – he doesn’t have to. It was his son Lokesh who filed his nomination on his behalf a few days ago. Locals collected the money for his election deposit in two hours. The town owes its stardom to him. And, it is deeply grateful to a man who, residents believe, is certain to become the Chief Minister of Seemandhra.
“The Congress is the enemy. We are fighting against the Congress and corruption. The country is insecure. There is no leadership. There is corruption and people are fed up,” he says, trying to justify his recent tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “He’s a hard bargainer,” said BJP’s Prakash Javadekar. Naturally, Naidu is fighting what could be his last political battle – if he doesn’t make it this time, he will be left with nothing: No money, no cadre, no resource, no ideas.
If there is anything Naidu has, it is ideas. When he turfed out his father-in-law N T Rama Rao from the TDP and later fought off NTR’s widow Lakshmi Parvati’s attempts to control the party, it was because he had plans for the state. When he became chief minister for the first time in 1995, the slogan ‘Bye bye Bangalore, Hello Hyderabad” was his brainchild. Andhra had no money – the state’s greatest strength was its skilled services sector. But to sustain its population dependent on agriculture (nearly 60 per cent), it needed not just a quick and heavy infusion of investment, but also some rationalisation of services. IT and biotechnology were the buzzwords of the 1990s, so Naidu made these key aspects of Andhra’s development.
For a time, it looked as if it was working. His government came to be known for populist schemes which no other chief minister of Andhra Pradesh had ever thought of. The IT and IT-enabled Services sectors boomed during his tenure, giving rise to a separate state-level IT policy. Significant policy changes were made in the agriculture sector and public finance management, especially deficit and debt management. The concept of user charges was introduced in the health and power sectors.
All this led to zooming real estate prices and the emergence of Hyderabad on the world map as an IT hub. But in the general and state polls of 2004, TDP under Naidu lost heavily — it was the worst-ever defeat that any major party has ever seen in the history of the state. So was the growth that took place during his tenure hype or reality?
He doesn’t want to answer these questions. Things are very different now. The state has been divided into two and the Seemandhra region – where his party has a bigger presence – is a chance to start development with a clean slate. He is brimming with ideas. Airports in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati will be granted international status, while two new ones will be developed.
“From Kalingaptnam to Vanpic, all ports will be coordinated to create a major hub. We will introduce bullet trains to the new Seemandhra capital from all the major towns and cities. We will turn Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts into textile hubs, West Godavari into an agricultural hub and Nellore and Prakasam into manufacturing hubs,” he says.
“There will be an ITI for each mandal and temple tourism will be promoted. There will be a special focus on the backward districts of north coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema," he adds.The TDP has released separate manifestos for Seemandhra and Telangana. But it is Seemandhra where Naidu sees his chance. “Beware of the Congress and the YSR Congress,” he tells people.
“The YSR Congress is saying we are making fake promises of one job per family. I will bring industries to Seemandhra and it will create more jobs. Jagan and his party have looted public money and if they are voted into power, they will sell Seemandhra,” he says.
If there are questions about the BJP-TDP tie up, no one is asking too closely. “The TDP and BJP have co-branded each other. Our workers are working for each other’s candidates,” says Javadekar.
NAIDU'S POLITICAL PATH
- Born in April 1950. Got involved with Congress while studying MA (Economics) in Chandragiri
- After 1975 Emergency, he came close to Sanjay Gandhi. In 1978, he won from Chandragiri Assembly seat on a Congress ticket. Became technical education and cinematography minister in T Anjaiah's government at 28
- As minister, Naidu came in contact with N T Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR, the superstar of Telugu cinema
- In 1980, he married NTR's second daughter. Two years later, NTR formed the TDP, and swept the state polls in 1983. Naidu, then in Congress, was defeated by a TDP candidate in Chandragiri. He joined the TDP soon after
- In August 1984 when N Bhaskara Rao staged a coup against NTR, Naidu rallied TDP MLAs and paraded them before the President of India. NTR was reinstated as CM 31 days later. Naidu was appointed TDP general secretary
- In 1989, Naidu fought as a TDP candidate in Chittoor and won. After NTR returned to power in 1994, Naidu became the finance minister
- In August 1995, Naidu staged a coup against NTR, to pre-empt NTR's second wife, Laxmi Parvathi, from wresting control of the party
- On September 1, 1995, Naidu became CM
- His tenure as CM was marked by ground-breaking reforms. He reduced food subsidies and raised power tariffs, and showcased Hyderabad as the IT capital. In 1996, when the United Front government was sworn in at the Centre, he became the convenor and played a key role in negotiations with alliance partners
- When the NDA stormed to power in 1998, he backed Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In return, TDP's GMC Balayogi became the Lok Sabha Speaker
- In 2004, Congress, led by Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, defeated the TDP-BJP alliance in Assembly polls. Naidu cut ties with BJP and vowed never to ally with the party
- In 2014, he joined hands with the BJP
