Articles
Sri N Chandra Babu Naidu -- Politician -Statesmen
Dt: 22/6/26
Sri N Chandra Babu Naidu -- Politician -Statesmen
Dr T H Chowdary*
No person in India has been or is in politics for as long as Sri N Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of AP and the supreme leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) . He has been in politics since 1978 when he was elected as a Congress MLA from the Chandragiri constituency of Chittoor district; he became a minister in AP in 1980 at the age 30 and since then he has been minister and a Chief Minister that is, for 48 years without break in politics. No Indian politician has got as long as a political career as Sri Chandrababu Naidu. He has been a prominent politician in several parties - Congress, TDP, and while in TDP as its tall leader he was in alliance with several all India parties at different times. He was Convenor of the United Front on behalf of which Deva Gowda (b. 18/5/1933 ) and Sri I K Gujral ( b.4/12/1919 d. 30/11/2012 ) were each for a few months Prime Ministers of India. At that time he was a champion of “secularism” . He once even suggested to I.K. Gujral, the Prime Minister to dismiss Kalyan Singh’s BJP government (b.5/1/1932 d.21/8/21 ) holding that secularism was the creed of the United Front and therefore it would not be improper to dismiss the BJP Chief Minister of UP for some reason. In Sri I K Gujral’s autobiography has recorded this incident, Naidu’s argument was that “secularism” binds the United Front parties where as Kalyan Singh was fundamentally Hindu “communalist” in the BJP.
2. Sri Naidu has won every election as an MLA since 1978 for first time. For the last several decades he has been an MLA from Kuppam, Chittoor district successively .
3. Sri Narendra Modi ji is celebrated for being at the head of the governments of Gujarat and India. And also as elected Prime Minister of India for longer than Jawaharlal Nehru. But nobody in India has been a 4 times Chief Minister for as long as Sri Chandra Babu Naidu, that is, for 16 years – 1995 -2004; 2014-19; 2024 - till date.
4. Currently, Sri Naidu is evangelizing child production in AP. For the third child his government gives Rs. 30,000 and for the fourth Rs. 40,000 as gift for the mother and if there are more, for each additional child, he might be giving some more amounts as gifts. The more the population the more the voters and the larger possibility of getting their votes for him and for his successor, his only son …. The reason he is incentivizing mothers to produce more children is with more voters, the state may have more MPs at the all India level. What is intriguing is that this evangelist for more children, has got only one son who is going to succeed him and that son also has got only son. As a wit said, “morality is for others, not for one self. “Similarly, more children is the virtue for others not for those in his line.
5. Sri Naidu garu is the second richest Chief Minister in India , second only to Karnataka’s Sri Siva Kumar. This is in contrast to Sri Tanguturu Prakasam Panthulu garu, Andhra Kesari, who once was the richest Bar-at-Law in Madras dies as a pauper, sacrificing all his wealth as freedom fighter and Premier of Madras Presidency and Chief Minister of Andhra, separated from Madras during over three decades of his political life.
6. Sri N Chandrababu Naidu has been a Chief Minister for 16 years while Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13 years only.
7. Apart from being a secularist in the company of the leaders of the United Front like Deve Gowda and I K Gujral, V P Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav and such persons of little repute, Naidu’s governments have been showering gifts on Christians and Muslims for their pilgrimages; Pastors, Imams, Muezzins .
8. People of Telangana and Andhra have a reason to be proud of this most experienced politician who has been in almost in the company of all parties . Such is his rich experience .
9. He is remembered for Hyderabad becoming the greatest I.T services city . He now has a vision of building Amaravathi as a great capital, recalling the grandeur of Amaravathi the capital of Indra the Lord of the Gods. One wishes that the Polavaram irrigation project is given as much importance as the building up of Amaravathi.
vyavas?y?tmik? buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-??kh? hy anant??cha buddhayo avyavas?yin?m
-Bhagawad Gita 2.41
Meaning: A focused mind guided by firm resolve brings spiritual success, while a scattered mind driven by endless desires leads to distraction and confusion.
10. Fortune does not stay with one person for perpetuity, not even for long continuous periods. All mortals are subjected to vicissitudes of fortunes. The bee has a song; it has wings too ( to fly away).
(822 words)
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