Burning Air Miles to Woo High and Mighty, Naidu Shrinks His Political Share at Home
Naidu with Yoshiro Tanaka, chairman of Mayekawa Manufacturing Ltd
A vassal with a vessel has become PM Narendra Modi’s man at alms. Of
the five southern CMs, Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu is perhaps the
most mobile and visible political chief executive of any state. He is
in New Delhi almost every month, either to seek special status for his
state or special packages from Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
After NDA II came in, he has visited the capital 23 times and spent 27
days—the highest number of days any CM has spent in the capital. Naidu
is on the prowl. Going by his mobility, both in India and abroad, he is
spreading his carbon footprint far and wide. And he is quite proud of
it. He thinks burning air miles is the most effective way of making his
state globally known. A few months after taking over as chief minister
in June 2014, Naidu asserted, “Our state needs proper marketing and I
have done that for Hyderabad in the past. Now I will do it for Andhra
Pradesh. Every two or three months, I will visit a foreign country.”
Even after 20 months in office, his Market Andhra mission is still to
deliver dividends. Naidu’s office is always seeking new destinations at
home and overseas for him to visit and organise road shows to attract
investment. So far, he has visited five countries over seven visits and
has spent 29 days trying to convince global investors and MNCs to put
their money where his mouth is.
The Andhra leader’s current woes
stem from the steadily declining financial position of his state.
According to reports, Andhra Pradesh’s first budget after the division
of the state revealed a revenue deficit of `60.6 billion for 2014-15. It
got worse during the second budget, when the revenue deficit saw a
substantial upward revision to `142.4 billion because revenue generation
had declined by 9 per cent. Even now the state cannot meet 25 per cent
of its capital expenditure. The chief minister, however, is obsessed
with the construction of new capital Amravati. Naidu expects that he
would showcase his expertise in creating modern cities by making
Amravati one of the world’s state-of-the-art metropolises. He had earned
global laurels by making Hyderabad one of the most attractive IT cities
of India when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was part of NDA I. Despite
his love for technology, Naidu was mauled in the state elections and
remained out of power for over a decade.
But the Andhra apothecary
of financial ailments hasn’t given up his obsession with foreign
investments and chasing glamorous infrastructure ideas, when instead he
should be focusing on deliving basic amenities to the majority of the
five crore denizens of his state. For the past 19 months, he has been
spending more time with foreign or Indian corporate leaders to set up
new projects in a state, which is not showing any significant rise in
demand. During his trips abroad or to New Delhi, Naidu has been
parroting the same demands to potential investors and political leaders.
For example, he has visited Singapore twice. In November 2014, he spent
three days inspecting wastewater treatment systems and studying the
Singapore Model for the development of a new capital for Andhra. He was
back there in September 2015 to discuss details for the development of
Amravati and invite Singaporean PM for the inauguration function to be
held weeks later.
A similar story unfolded during his two visits
to Japan. He flew to Tokyo first in November 2014 for a five-day trip.
He signed four important agreements with Sumitomo and persuaded Isuzu to
show some interest in investing in Andhra Pradesh. He was back in Japan
nine months later to convince them all over again to set up new plants
or at least open offices in his state. Being comfortable in the company
of corporate honchos, Naidu is one of the few CMs who are conspicuous by
their presence at the World Economic Forum—an annual rendezvous for the
world’s rich and mighty who go to Davos to make merry and network at
lavish dinner parties than do any serious business. Naidu was present in
2015 and 2016, and confabulated with numerous MNCs in a specially
created meeting hall where officials from his state made hi-tech
presentations. It’s true that Naidu seems to be dead serious about what
he is doing, but so far, he is yet to make public the outcome of his
foreign forays. This has forced even his party leaders and opposition to
question his opulent style, while pillorying him for neglecting the
state’s drought-affected areas.
Even his capability to influence
Modi is under scrutiny. Two decades ago, Naidu was the kingmaker. In
1996, he played a key role in making both HD Deve Gowda and I K Gujral
Prime Ministers. He could gain any concessions for his state from the
Centre. But this time, he has hardly succeeded in getting a special
financial package or status for his state. Two weeks ago, he was in
Delhi to persuade Modi to grant Andhra special status—a demand made
twice earlier. Naidu has adopted any excuse to get a boarding pass to
Delhi, whether to hold meetings with medical equipment manufacturers, to
invite PM Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and other Union ministers to
attend Amaravati’s foundation stone-laying ceremony or to meet numerous
ministers to get various pending projects off the tarmac. None of the
other non-BJP chief ministers such as Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee,
Akhilesh Yadav or Jayalalithaa are seen in New Delhi chasing Modi’s
ministers.
Many TDP leaders in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are
unhappy over Naidu’s excessive periods of absence from state politics.
Some are even deserting the party. After being routed in the recent
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, the TDP is now facing
an exodus of MLAs and the threat of being reduced to a non-entity in
Telangana. Last week, the TDP legislator from Quthbullapur, A P
Vivekananda Goud, joined the ruling TRS and claimed more desertions
would follow. The TDP won 16 Assembly seats in 2014. About half the
legislators have left the party. If Naidu’s party is on the verge of
extinction in Telangana, it is also confronted with massive
disenchantment in Andhra Pradesh. Most party leaders, including MLAs,
have been unable to meet the CM for a long time. Naidu’s over-emphasis
on urban development at the cost of ignoring rural areas and small towns
has provided ammo to his foe KCR to create an adverse political
atmosphere against the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu’s future lies more
in making his state a viable, stable and healthy entity than creating
isolated oases of affluence. By flying high at state expense to woo the
high-end audiences, he is shrinking his share in the local political
marketplace to a shadow of what it was.
prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla
