Man of the Moment

Life comes full circle for the TDP chief as he scripts his return to the Andhra assembly as chief minister

- Parth Singh

Chief executive of Andhra Pradesh. Cyber CM. Kingmaker. Those who have worked with him call him a pragmatist, referring to his ability to convert a crisis into an opportunity.

But the political climate ahead of elections to the assembly in Andhra Pradesh and the Lok Sabha in 2014 was an unfamiliar one. The United Progressive Alliance government had, with one sweeping announcement, carved out the new state of Telangana, stripping Andhra Pradesh of its capital city Hyderabad.

This was no minor shift; for many, it was an upheaval that left Andhra searching for an anchor. Against this backdrop, Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), brokered alliances in 2014 with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP).

When the ballots were counted that year, the TDP-led alliance claimed victory with 106 assembly seats and a vote share of 44.43%.

A first-generation politician, Naidu is a mastermind in political strategies, especially when it comes to coalition politics. “Naidu’s success mantra is that one must effectively use the given opportunity and convert every adversity into an advantage,” says E Venkatesu, professor of political science at the University of Hyderabad, who helped Naidu select candidates for the 2004 election.

Yet it was only ahead of the 2024 elections that Naidu brought his trump card to the table.

Changing Priorities