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Nara Chandrababu Naidu (born 20 April 1950, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh) is the President of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a regional party in the southern India state of Andhra Pradesh from 1996. He served as the Chief Minister of the State for a 8 years 8 months 13 days (1995–2004). He has been the Leader of opposition in the AP State Assembly since then.

Tony Blair and Bill Clinton both visited him in Hyderabad, the state capital. The governor of Illinois created a Naidu Day in his honour. He also won numerous awards including 'IT Indian of the Millenium' by India Today, Business Person of the Year by Economic Times, member of the World Economic Forum's Dream Cabinet and South Asian of the Year by Time Asia. He also held post of chairperson of the "National IT Panel" under NDA govt and he was described as one of the Hidden Seven working wonders around the world, by Profit, a monthly magazine published by Oracle Corporation, US.

Early life and education

Naidu was born in the Naravari Palle village of Chittoor district on 20 April 1950. His father N. Kharjura Naidu was a shepherd and his mother Ammanamma was a housewife. Due to lack of an education centre in his Native village, Naidu would travel one and half kilometres everyday to Seshapuram primary school up to class five. Then he went to the Chandragiri government high school, till class 9. He used to carry a lunch box with either curry or chutney. Rarely did he have a choice. He went to Tirupati for his higher education, where he studied from class 10 to his masters. Naidu completed his BA in 1972, after which he enrolled in the MA (economics) course. In 1974, he started work on his PhD under the guidance of Professor D L Narayana, who was then Andhra Pradesh State Finance Commission chairman. The topic was Economic ideas of Professor N G Ranga. He did not complete his Phd and started involving in active politics.

Early political career

After staging a strong student leadership qualities, Naidu took a decision to pursue active politics. Naidu entered the political scene as a youth leader from Chandragiri and after that there was no looking back from him. During the Emergency, he was appointed as the Pulicherla Youth Congress president. He became close to then prime minister Indira Gandhi's son Sanjay Gandhi.

Legislative career 1978–1983

Naidu got a Congress ticket in 1978 under the 20 per cent quota for youth from the Chandragiri Constituency. He was elected into the state assembly of Andhra Pradesh in 1978 as a member of the Congress Party, and he almost immediately became the minister of technical education and Cinematography in T Anjaiah's cabinet, making him the state's youngest assembly member and youngest minister at 28.

Being the Minister of State for Cinematography, he came into contact with the then superstar and Matinee Idol of Telugu Cinema, late Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR). The Nadamuri family was impressed with Chandrababu Naidu, and they soon proposed that NTR's daughter Bhuvaneswari be married to him. Naidu instantly gave a positive response to the proposal, the wedding was conducted on a grand scale in Madras.

Telugu Desam Party

In early 1982 there were rumours that, NTR is planning to plunge into politics by floating a regional political party. Just nine months before the scheduled general elections, NTR floated a regional party Telugu Desam Party and is said to have invited Naidu to join the party, but Naidu stuck to the Congress party and contested again from Chandragiri constituency against a rival TDP candidate Venkatarama Naidu.NTR swept the polls, and won a huge majority. It was the first time Indian National Congress was defeated in the state after Independence.

Naidu joined the Telugu Desam Party after he was defeated in the elections. Predicting he would have a better future in his farther-in-law's Telugu Desam Party.

Rise in the Party

Naidu soon became NTR's trusted lieutenant and right hand man. When Nadendla Bhaskar Rao staged the infamous coup against NTR in August 1984, it was Chandrababu Naidu who helped his father-in-law's NTR regain power by rallying and parading all the MLA's before the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan. NTR appointed Naidu as the General Secretary of the party. He began playing a crucial role in the TDP after Nandendla Bhaskara Rao's Coup.

NTR opted for a mid-term poll after regaining the chief ministership, but Chandrababu Naidu did not contest the poll. The Nandendla factor gave NTR another landslide. Naidu slowing started become a second power centre in the TDP and was believe to be building his own group in the party.

Legislative career 1989–1994

In the 1989 Assembly Elections, Chandrababu Naidu contested from his native constituency Kuppam and won with a slender majority of 5,000-odd votes, Naidu was very unhappy with Chandragiri people's verdict in 1985. But, as the Congress had regained power in the state elections, Naidu had to sit in the Opposition.

Palace Coup

In 1994, after the TDP regained power following an anti-Congress wave triggered by an anti-liquor agitation and a strong anti-incumbency factor, Naidu became the Finance and Revenue minister in the NTR's cabinet.

On August 23,1995 Naidu engineered a internal party coup against NTR his father-in-law and took over the post of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 1 September 1995, he was also chosen as president of the Telugu Desam Party.NTR's sons Nandamuri Harikrishna,Nandamuri Balakrishna and son-in-law Daggubati Venkateswara Rao played a crucial role in the coup.But had a fall out with Naidu soon after. Naidu is said have promised to make Venkateswara Rao, the Deputy Chief minister and Harikrishna the party's general secretary, but he sidelined them soon after becoming the Chief minister and Party president According to Venkateswara Rao, Naidu is said to have gained support of party MLA's by misrepresenting facts and stating that he was saving the party..

As a Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

As chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, has called for short-term sacrifices to turn Andhra Pradesh into an Asian tiger over the next 20 years. Naidu soon slashed subsidies for – among other things – food, and he raised power tariffs.

Both CNN and Time gave widespread coverage to Naidu's way of functioning, CNN said, In just five years, he has turned an impoverished, rural backwater place into India's new information technology hub. Time magazine has awarded Naidu as South Asian of the Year.

Naidu, was the West's favourite Indian. Tony Blair and Bill Clinton both visited him in Hyderabad, the state capital. Time magazine named him South Asian of the Year; the governor of Illinois created a Naidu Day in his honour, and the British government and the World Bank flooded his state with money.They loved him because he did what he was told.

Vision 2020

Naidu came up with a vision document "Vision 2020" which was devised by US consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.

• It states that education and healthcare must be made available to everyone. Only later do you discover that the state's hospitals and universities are to be privatised and funded by "user charges".
• It extols small businesses but, way beyond the point at which most people stop reading, reveals that it intends to "eliminate" the laws which defend them and replace small investors, who "lack motivation", with "large corporations".
• Generate employment in the countryside, and that over 20 million people should be thrown off the land.

Naidu vision document was for privatisation, deregulation and the shrinking of the state controls but it unwittingly developed a blueprint for mass starvation.

1999 election victory

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Mr.Naidu won a majority in the state house winning 185/294 seats in the State Assembly and 29/42 in the Lok Sabha. Telugu Desam Party and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) together bagged 37/42 seats in the Lok Sabha segment. Making it the second-largest ally in the new BJP led coalition government.

Hyderabad's development

Naidu quoted, "If you want to develop a state, you have to make its main cities a showpiece. Hyderabad is the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Naturally, when a foreign investor is coming, if I ask them to go to Warangal, Tirupati or Vijayawada they may not go. So for the key sectors like information technology, biotechnology, healthcare and various outsourcing services."

Naidu started the slogan " Bye-Bye Banglore, Hello Hyderabad". Microsoft Corporation has already set up a software development centre in Hyderabad, the second such centre outside its base in Seattle. Naidu managed to coax other global IT giants IBM, Dell, Deloitte, Computer Associates and Oracle to set up shop in Hyderabad, at a time when India hardly featured on global IT majors' radar. Naidu made impressive presentations before global CEOs and convinced them to invest in his state.

2003 assassination attempt

On 1 October 2003, Naidu survived a land mine blast, He escaped with a fractured left collar bone and a hairline fracture to two of his right ribs. The incident occurred around 16:00 (IST) when Naidu was travelling in a convoy, heading to the Lord Venkateshwara temple in the Tirumala hills for the annual Brahmotsavam festival.

The State Information Technology Minister B. Gopalakrishna Reddy, Telugu Desam legislators R. Rajasekhar Reddy and Ch. Krishnamurthy, as well as the driver Srinivasa Raju, were also injured. After an extensive investigation Naidu's survival was attributed to the armoured vehicle in which he was travelling.

2004 elections failure

The Telugu Desam Party led by Chandrababu Naidu failed to come into the power after two successive wins, winning as low as 47/294 constituencies in the state assembly and 5/42 in the Lok Sabha segment. While many of his ministers lost, Naidu himself won by a huge margin in Kuppam. But despite his growth-oriented policies, Naidu suffered a massive defeat. The defeat sent shocking waves across the nation, especially to the BJP and it's allies.

Reasons behind 2004 election debacle

According to Naidu, the 2004 election failure is primarily attributed to the severe drought that gripped during his rule and an anti-incumbency factor.

Apart from this, Naidu was pro-rich and ignored the farmers of the State. Mr Naidu ignored the large rural population with his policies, failing to reach poorer voters. Years of drought and increasing debt have driven hundreds of farmers in the state to commit suicide.

Prolific journalist and Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Palagummi Sainath attributed the defeat to Naidu's hostile agriculture policies, drastic decline in employment growth, stagnant literacy growth and misplaced focus on Information technology,.

    "On most indicators, Chandrababu Naidu ran the worst performing state in the south of India for nearly 10 years.
     Employment growth saw a drastic decline in the Naidu era. In rural Andhra Pradesh, it was 2.40 per cent per annum 
     in the decade before him. It fell to 0.29 per cent during 1994-2000.This was a worse decline than that seen in the 
     rest of India. The rate of growth of real wages in rural areas fell sharply in the 1990s."
    "This was the one state in the south that showed no improvement in its Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) between the first 
     and second National Family Health Surveys.(Those came out in the early and late 1990s.) 
     Indeed, its IMR of 65 is slightly worse than Bihar (62) on this count."

    "Small farmers did badly everywhere in the country in the 1990s. But it was in Andhra Pradesh that they committed 
     suicide in thousands. The years of hostile policy still take a toll even months after Mr. Naidu's exit."

Personal life

Naidu is married to Bhuvaneswari, who has a son Lokesh. Lokesh Nara is the Executive Director at Heritage Foods Ltd. He holds an MBA from Stanford School of Business and B.S from Carnegie Mellon University. He is married to Brahmani, elder daughter of Nandamuri Balakrishna

His achievements in his career

• He served as the Chief Minister of the State for 8 years 8 months 13 days(1994–2004)

• The state's youngest assembly member and youngest minister at 28

• He also won numerous awards including 'IT Indian of the Millenium'

Controversies

Ascent to Chief Minister's Post

Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh under controversial circumstances. Naidu staged an internal coup on his father-in-law and the then Chief minister NTR by gaining support of majority of party MLA's. Naidu is said have convinced most of the members by stating that NTR was going to hand over the reins to his wife Lakshmi Parvati and claimed that the party was in danger of disintegrating under her rule. Naidu's co-brother and NTR's son in law Daggubati Venkateswara Rao who played a crucial role in the coup and later had a fall out with Naidu said that being involved in the coup was his biggest sin. He claimed that NTR felt so bitter against Naidu that he had asked his film actor son Nandamuri Balakrishna to 'murder' Naidu and show him the sword stained with Naidu's blood..Venkateswara Rao clarified saying "I don't think he really meant to kill him but unable to give voice to his pain, he said that"..

In an emotional Interview after the coup NTR likened Naidu to Aurangzeb,The Mughal Emperor who jailed his father and killed his siblings to become the King of the Mughal Empire.He said it was unfortunate that the same was being repeated by Naidu after hundreds of years. He said that he was sadden that a person from his family had betrayed and insulted all Telugu speaking people and had bought disgrace to democracy. He ridiculed Naidu for being power hungry and untrustworthy. He said that Naidu had been building ground for a coup from the very beginning by distributing money and creating his own group within the party to destabilize it and claim power when the opportunity arose. He called the coup a 'Planed Treachery'.

Dis-appropriate Assets Case

In November 2011, The Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered a probe against Chandrababu Naidu .A Division Bench said "we are of the opinion that the petitioner made out a case of misuse and/or abuse of power and also actions of indulgence by respondent No. 8 (Mr. Naidu) warranting admission of the writ petition”.The Bench directed the investigating agencies - Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Securities And Exchange Board of India(SEBI) to submit reports within three months so that the court could further consider the matter.The petition was filed by Y.S. Vijayamma, MLA and wife of late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy seeking an enquiry into his alleged disproportionate assets. The petition accused Naidu of doling out several favours to select corporate houses and amassing huge wealth.

Naidu fought tooth and nail to halt the investigation.Naidu and his associates had challenged the high court order before the Supreme Court but the apex court refused to intervene in the matter and asked the petitioners to approach the high court for interim order.Subsequently Naidu, Ramoji Rao and others filed a vacation petition in the high court against the CBI probe.The matter took a new turn when Reliance Industries also impleaded in the case and Chief Justice Madan Lokur rescued himself from the case on the ground that he had shares in Reliance. The counsel of Reliance expressed apprehension that the case can cause damage to the company as well as lakhs of its investors. One of the allegations leveled by the petitioner against Chandrababu Naidu pertains to the decisions regarding the Reliance's investment in the Krishna Godavari basin and the alleged kick backs that Naidu received through Reliance investment in Ushodaya Enterprises. Finally on 13 December, 2011 the Andhra Pradesh high court in its interim orders stayed the investigation.

On Feb 16, 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on dismissed the petition stating does not satisfy parameters of public interest litigation.

Nexus With Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali allegedly revealed nexus with Chandrababu Naidu during Enforcement Directorate's investigations. Though the Enforcement Directorate's report based on Ali's confession has not directly mentioned Naidu's name. Naidu reacted strongly to the questions posed by the media as to whether he had any connections with the accused, and chose to exonerate himself by seeking a thorough investigation into the allegations.

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External links

• Official Telugu Desam Party website

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from October 2011
• Telugu people
• 1950 births
• Living people
• Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh
• Telugu politicians
• People from Chittoor