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Naidu’s success mantra is that one must effectively use the given opportunity and convert every adversity into an advantage

- E Venkatesu

N CHANDRABABU Naidu is the son of a landowning farmer from Naravaripalle of Chandragiri Mandal in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh (AP). However, he is well-known today not only in the Telugu states, and in India, but beyond the boundaries of the country. As a first-generation politician, known for converting a crisis into an opportunity, Naidu is a pragmatist in using those opportunities for self-elevation. A deep analysis of his track record for more than four decades reveals that he has been a mastermind in political-cum-electoral strategies, mobilisation of resources and managing coalition politics at both the state and national levels.

While assessing a successful politician, one needs to also locate the historical perspective of the changing political economy and electoral politics of the state and nation. Retrospectively, Naidu’s political career began when he attracted the attention of Indira Gandhi in the 1970s, when he was a research scholar at Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati. Hailing from the skilful Kamma community, he is said to have become close to N G Ranga and Rajagopala Naidu, both of whom were Congress MPs belonging to the Kamma caste. With the help of Ranga, Naidu got a chance to contest as an MLA from Chandragiri constituency on a Congress ticket and won the election in 1978.

As first-time MLAs, Naidu—along with Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), the former chief minister (CM) of AP and father of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, and K E Krishnamurthy (KEK), the deputy CM in Naidu’s cabinet during 201419—became ministers in the jumbo cabinet of T Anjaiah, who was CM of AP in the 1980s. After getting a ministerial berth, he got married to matinee idol N T Rama Rao’s (NTR) daughter in 1981. In informal discussions, close circles disclose that it was YSR and KEK who convinced Naidu to marry NTR’s daughter so that he would get financial support for the next election.