You just cannot write him off. He lives, breathes and dreams politics” — this was what one of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s bitter critics opined in private, when the latter was at the lowest point of his four-decade-old political career.
Naidu, who had been out of power since 2019, was jailed for the first time in life in the alleged skill development corporation scam at the time. But many political pundits and journalists, including yours truly, thought otherwise and were busy speculating on his future and the ‘existential crisis’ facing his party.
Fast forward to the present: Naidu is back in the saddle and how! Much more powerful than before, may be as strong as he was at the turn of the century during the Vajpayee era.
It’s deja vu for the man who has seen both glory and humiliation ever since he made politics his career in the late 1970s. He learnt how to cultivate party leaders and cadre down to the ordinary karyakarta from behind the scenes operating as the go to man of his father-in-law the late NT Rama Rao till the mid-90s.
Then came his crucial breakthrough as he had positioned himself to be the right man at the right time to take over the mantle by a palace coup from his father-in-law.
Though it happened so long ago, even now his rivals lose no opportunity to deride him for the “backstab”. In the conservative society that is ours, he could be seen as such but constitutionally, he was right.
And his nine years in power till 2004 proved he was the man the then united Andhra Pradesh needed. Most of his legacy was carved during that time as he took advantage of the IT boom, and his weight in the Vajpayee government to transform Hyderabad into an IT hub. He earned adjectives like visionary, and CEO. It is not that he was infallible. After all, he was and is a quintessential politician. But like a few of his other successful peers, he has a keen desire to go down in history as a visionary leader.
Coming from a party and community that is entrepreneurial, he firmly believes in a free economy.
In his first stint, he was more of a Thatcherite but in a country that was just picking up, his lack of focus on agriculture and rural regions proved to be his downfall.
He languished in the opposition till 2014, missing the 2009 poll victory by a whisker. His history is well-known but what makes him tick isn’t as well studied. His politics is labeled opportunism or pragmatic. For instance, he switched over to the NDA in the late 1990s after propping up and playing a key role as convenor of the United Front. In 2004, he dumped the NDA and in 2009, he joined hands with even the TRS.
In other words, he has allied with almost every party that is of some relevance in the State including the Congress (in 2019), the very party to fight which the TDP was formed. He went back to the NDA in 2014 and dumped it in 2018 when he sensed the BJP might be a liability. He was wrong of course and the tie-up with Congress proved disastrous.
His politics is instinctive, driven by the natural urge to survive and win. When in power, he is consumed by grand ideas and his penchant for technology is real.
What lets him down is his focus on the big picture – ironically, it is his strength and weakness too.
In 2019, during the poll campaign, he was impelled by his belief that his time had come again to shine in Delhi. He was by all accounts envisioning a big role. That time has come now in 2024. How he walks with Prime Minister Modi would be interesting. This is their second honeymoon. Naidu will surely be looking for high respect, and liberal funding for his dream capital – Amaravati, which he hopes will cement his legacy forever. The other side of Naidu is his excellent rapport with all national leaders and an anathema towards YSRC chief YS Jagan.
A strict disciplinarian, he uses the visualization technique to manifest his dreams. What is he dreaming of now: place in history, vengeance? Given his immense fortitude and patience, he won’t be in a hurry. His moves will be pragmatic in any direction.