CHANDRABABU  NAIDU

Chandrababu Naidu  India’s Glocal Leader by Tejaswini Pagadala ; Published by Bloomsbury ; Pages 131 ; Price Rs 499/-

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        The author of the book under review , Tejaswini   Pagdalia had a stint in  The New Indian Express and  the Deccan Chronicle. She bagged  the ‘Laadli Media Award’ for gender sensitivity– an analytical piece on the contradictions in the laws related to child marriages.  She has chronicled the life and journey of  Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and become India's youngest political biographer..

 The book  has arrived at the right moment when India is poised on its General Election and the country will decide if another term can be given to Narendra Modi. In this background Naidu is playing a larger than life role having withdrawn his support to Modi.

Naidu’s story is not an over-night success saga. He  was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His  journey in life runs parallel to that of formation and division of Andhra Pradesh. Having struggled throughout his life,Naidu picked up the right lessons on his way and became a goal-setter with definite objectives—someone who loves to challenge the odds, go against the tide and stay out instead of fitting in a crowd.

 Nara Chandrababu Naidu was the youngest MLA in Andhra Pradesh at 28 years. He has evolved into one of the extraordinary leaders in Indian politics over four decades. He is noted for political acumen, intellect, and hard work. This book attempts to show how Naidu has been a quintessential survivor in Indian politics.

“Naidu lacked the charisma of N T Rama Rao, his father-in-law but found his image in computer, technology and modern management”, according to K.C.Suri .
Naidu has an uncanny  ability to combine politics and governance which  touches every aspect of Indian domestic and foreign policy, from the struggle for social, technological, economic and administrative reforms to creating world-class institutions.  Naidu has become  a symbol and an embodiment of many Indias - modern, progressive, rural and cultural.

Tejaswini  has made a thorough study of the man who put Andhra on the way to  global recognition.She quotes  NTR repeatedly saying, “Samajame na devalayam, Prajale na devullu”  (Society is my temple and people are my God). I am waging a war for the welfare of the common man.’ Today, several decades down the line, Naidu’s step of pulling out his party’s support to the NDA government at the Centre in seeking special status to Andhra seems to echo the sentiments of his iconic father-in-law.

 Naidu displays a special  approach towards Chief Ministership.  He acted as the CEO of the state and likes to be called a CEO. “Politicians look only for today. A CEO looks for today, tomorrow and the future. As a CEO, he  would get re-elected as Chief Minister,”

  Naidu’s ‘Dial Your CM’ was a pre-cursor to Modi’s “Mann Ki Baat” and was a hit already in Andhra. Naidu  inaugurated on the state level political platform  a 30-minute weekly programme titled ‘Dial Your CM’ on Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR).  Naidu had evolved and perfected a direct contact  with the  people.

The author  watched Naidu at work---- his attention to detail — his memory power, his knowledge of what was happening in the state, and how he had every bit information from every nook and corner on his fingertips. He spotted mismatches in meetings quickly, in terms of growth and numbers.

 The book  throws light on a number of points with which we are not familiar. Arun Tiwari, a missile scientist and co-author of former President Dr Abdul Kalam’s biography  “Wings of Fire” declares, “Naidu is the first man who demonstrated the power of India to the world in the 1990s post liberalisation. He is also the first Chief Minister in the country to use development as an agenda in 1995-1996. Modi, came, much later, in 2002.”

 ‘Every crisis is an opportunity’, is one of Naidu’s most favourite phrases. With pulling out the support to the NDA government, Naidu has certainly put Modi and his team under crisis of progressive thinking. Only the coming elections will tell whether they turn into an opportunity or perish under this Andhra icon.

 Naidu’s early years are reflected in his present ideology, as a businessman and a leader.

Naidu is  India’s foremost visionary Chief Minister. A man who had not only changed the very definition of world investment, by making  Hyderabad, the hub of Information and Technology globally, but also reformed the manner in which we undertake the procedures of Direct Foreign Investments in India.

From being an embodiment of progress for India to becoming the first Chief Minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, Naidu, has perhaps seen all the upheavals and tribulations,

“India’s Glocal Leader” captures the life story of a successful and a proven leader of modern India who is perhaps under-represented in our country where North India’s politics dominates the nation. The book proves that  a leader like Chandrababu Naidu can emerge  from a remote village of Andhra Pradesh and Naidu has proved that we need to take risks to prosper as a country He led the way for India to believe in the power of Information Technology when the country wasn’t ready for it. In the process of implementing his vision, he not only balances politics with governance but also ensures he convinces people about his ideas.

 Tejaswini does not gloss over matters. She has explained the incident dethroning NTR , highlighting what drove Naidu to take such a decision, what were the options at hand, what were the compulsions he was facing from the family and the party and why he had to make such a decision, aware of the risks he had to face. One of the reasons why he has become a successful leader in India is also his open-mindedness in accepting various cultures, ethnicities, religions and set of beliefs / traditions.

 But one unique thing about the CM was that he was open to listening to anyone irrespective of their age and experience. He would also ask every one  to express ideas. If it seemed apt to him, he would act upon, otherwise he would just listen,”

 Naidu got the chance to show his political skills in August 1984, when Nadendla Bhaskara Rao staged a coup against NTR. He rallied the TDP MLAs together, and paraded them before the President of India. NTR was reinstated as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh 31 days later. Impressed with his son-in-law's manoeuvres, NTR appointed Naidu as the General Secretary of the party and he began playing an important role in the TDP . 

 As Chief Minister, Naidu advocated short-term sacrifice to turn Andhra Pradesh into an Asian tiger over the next 20 years. He slashed food subsidies  and raised power tariffs.  He introduced the mobile “rythu” bazaars and eliminated the middlemen hassle.

Naidu is a visionary and his contribution is undisputed Naidu has won a number of awards, including IT Indian of the Millennium from India Today, Business Person of the Year by The Economic Times, South Asian of the Year from Time Asia and membership in the World Economic Forum’s 's Dream Cabinet. Naidu chaired the National IT Panel under the NDA government.“Time” magazine named him South Asian of the Year.

The author gives details of many of Naidu’s ventures—Cyberabad,CDA,ISB,Hitech and ‘Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020’ as also the Se\ri Krishna Committe Reprt, the birth of Telengana, finaling the new capital Amaravati. She has also covered the dastardly attack on Naidu and the havoc caused on the State by Nature.

The new State’s Vision has been prepared for 35 years—till 2050 by which it aims to be among the top investment destinations around the globe. Naidu was influenced by the Chairman of the SoftBank  Corporation of Tokyu Masayoshi Son.

A very interesting biography of a leader which is welcome as we have very few biographies of our Netas.

P.P.Ramachandran.

22 /04/ 2018.