N. Chandrababu Naidu

Nara Chandrababu Naidu

 (Telugu pronunciation:  (listen); born 20 April 1950) is an Indian politician and current leader of opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He is a former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, serving from 2014 to 2019. He was the first Chief Minister of the state after it was divided. Previously, he served as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004, before the state’s division, and as the leader of the opposition in the united Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2014. He is the National President of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and the longest-serving Chief Minister (14 years in office) of Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu has won a number of awards, including IT Indian of the Millennium from India Today, Business Person of the Year by The Economic Times, South Asian of the Year from Time Asia and membership in the World Economic Forum’s Dream Cabinet. Naidu chaired the National IT Panel under the National Democratic Alliance (India) (NDA) government and was described as one of the “hidden seven” working wonders of the world by Profit (Oracle Corporation’s monthly magazine). Naidu was offered an honorary professorship by US business school – the Kellogg School of Management in 2000. He was the Chairman of National Task Force on Micro-irrigation from Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture in 2003. He was the head of 13-member Committee of Chief Ministers to promote digital payment systems and financial inclusion in India which was constituted by federal government in 2016.

Early life and education

Naidu was born on 20 April 1950 at Naravaripalle, Chittoor district in present-day Andhra Pradesh in an agricultural family to Nara Kharjura Naidu and his wife Amanamma. He has a younger brother Nara Ramamurthy Naidu and two younger sisters. Since his village had no school, Naidu attended primary school in Seshapuram up to class five and the Chandragiri Government High School up to class 10. He completed his BA degree in 1972 from Sri Venkateswara Arts College, Tirupati. He did his Masters in Economics from Sri Venkateswara University. In 1974, under the gudience of professor Dr D.L.Narayana he started work on his PhD on the topic of Economic ideas of Professor N G Ranga, but did not complete his PhD.

Political career

Naidu was drawn to politics at an early age. He started his political activities as a students’ union leader in Sri Venkateswara University while pursuing his Masters. In 1975, he joined Indian Youth Congress and became the president for its local chapter in Pulicherla. After the emergency was imposed on the country in 1975, he became a close supporter of Sanjay Gandhi.

Legislative career (1978–1983)

With the help of N. G. Ranga, Naidu secured a candidacy from the Congress party, under it’s 20% quota for the youth, and became an MLA for the Chandragiri constituency in 1978 at the age of 28. He served as a director of Andhra Pradesh Small Scale Industries Development Corporation. Later, he was appointed as the minister for cinematography in T. Anjaiah’s government. He became the youngest MLA and the youngest minister, at the age of 28, in Andhra Pradesh at that time. After becoming a minister, he dropped his PhD program.

In 1979, he played a crucial role in the electing G. Kuthuhalamma as Chittoor Zilla Parishad chief, against the official Congress candidate. Following this, he was suspended from the party for two months.

As the cinematography minister, Naidu came in contact with N. T. Rama Rao, a popular film star in Telugu cinema. In 1980, he married Bhuvaneswari, Rao’s second daughter.

Telugu Desam Party

In 1982, N. T. Rama Rao formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and swept the assembly polls held in 1983. Naidu, who was then still in the Congress (I) party, was defeated by a TDP candidate in Chandragiri. He joined TDP soon after. TDP reversed its policy of not admitting candidates who contested against it in the 1983 elections and inducted Naidu into the party at the second mahanadu, an annual convention that TDP organises, at Visakhapatnam by Rama Rao.

Naidu demonstrated his political skills in August 1984, when N. Bhaskara Rao staged a coup against N. T. Rama Rao. Subsequently, Rama Rao was reinstated as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Impressed with his son-in-law’s efforts, Rao made Naidu in-charge of Karshaka Parishad, the farmers’ council established by his government. Rao later appointed Naidu as the general secretary of the party and he began playing an important role in the TDP after Bhaskara Rao’s coup attempt.

Naidu did not contest in the 1985 elections, rather opted to build up the party.

Legislative career (1989–1995)

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In the 1989 assembly election, Naidu contested from Kuppam constituency as a TDP candidate and won by 5,000 votes. INC, however, had regained power in the election so Naidu had to sit in the opposition. Rama Rao appointed him as a coordinator of the TDP, in which capacity he handled the party’s role of the main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. His role during this phase, both inside the Legislative Assembly and outside, was a critical factor for the subsequent success of the party.

Naidu won the 1994 elections from Kuppam constituency. He became the Finance and Revenue Minister in N. T. Rama Rao’s ministry.

First term as Chief Minister (1995–1999)

On 1 September 1995, Naidu came to power as the Chief Minister by organising a coup against Rama Rao. In an interview with Reuters, Rama Rao compared himself to Shah Jahan, a 17th-century Mughal emperor who was imprisoned by his son, and predicted that he would gain his revenge against what he called “the backstabbers” in his family, especially his son-in-law and successor, Naidu.

In July 1999, Naidu launched the Deepam (transl. lamp) scheme to provide LPG cooking gas connections to rural women, with a budget of ₹100 crore (equivalent to ₹346 crore or US$48 million in 2019). The central government agreed to provide one million LPG connections via this scheme.

Second term as Chief Minister (1999–2004)

TDP, led by Naidu, won a majority in the state legislature, with 185 of 294 seats in the Assembly and 29 of 42 seats in the Parliament in the 1999 general election, making it the second-largest party in the BJP-led NDA coalition government.

Janmabhoomi Programme

Naidu launched the Janmabhoomi (birthplace) Programme in February 1996. The main aim was to involve people in the reconstruction and revitalisation of the society. The programme works at a micro level, planning to identify people-represented problems through Gram Sabha discussions by regional officers, especially in villages, and to send project proposals for the government to work on. The core concentrated areas are community work, primary school education, drinking water, health and hospitals, family welfare, and environmental protection through watershed and joint forest management activities.

From 1997 onward, the ‘Clean and Green Campaign’ was initiated where school students and teachers participated in institutional and household plantation with government employees. A total of 46 million trees in the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state were planted. About 3,906,835 people participated in sanitation work, with 1,438,850 persons engaged to remove garbage and 40,921,447 people participated in health awareness rallies. The Naidu idea was to make every habitation and municipal ward ‘clean and green’ and it was one of the largest and most successful events organised by his government.

His government started the “self help groups” (SHG) such as water user associations, Vanasamrakshana Samities, Rythu Mithra Groups, CMEY Groups, School Education Committees, and promoted the ‘Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas’ (DWCRA) where each group had 15-20 female members and chose a leader who conducted group meetings. The main purpose was to offer microfinance through government and bank-linkage that would help rural women to start income generating activities, know about their rights, and the importance of education. The Naidu government distributed two lakh (two-hundred-thousand) bicycles to the girls who joined the government high schools as part of women empowerment initiative.

Dial your Chief minister

Prajalato Mukhyamantri (Chief Minister with People) Phone is a programme that encourages open dialogue between the chief minister and the common people of Andhra Pradesh state. There is a live broadcast every Monday, on both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) where Naidu interacts with the callers directly to know their issues and address them. The live show is conducted in two sessions: in the first session, there is a discussion with vice-chancellors, academicians, and writers and in the second session, there is interaction with the people. Naidu was described as “a leader, who mingled with the masses after shedding his official status and time as Chief Minister.” The innovative program found acceptance in the country’s information and broadcasting systems.

Rythu Bazaar (farmers market)

Rythu Bazaar was launched by Naidu on 26 January 1999 with the objective to control the skyrocketing prices of fruits and vegetables. Under this program, farmers were encouraged to sell their produce directly to the consumers and in the process, eliminate the middleman. In the first phase itself, the program succeeded and reached various towns. Prices were down by 70 to 75 percent, and it benefited both the farmers and the direct consumers.

E-governance

With the intention of bringing e-governance to the citizens, Naidu launched e-Seva centers in 2001 for paperless and speedy delivery of results to applicants. These e-Seva centers were one-stop solutions providing all government information and services online such as utility bills, banking services, issuing birth and death certificates, written test for drivers licence, government orders, and APSRTC tours and travel operators booking. The government introduced an outsourcing employee system where government-related services are done under a contract agreement and after a certain time, they are declared as permanent government employees.

Vision 2020

In 1999, Naidu produced a vision statement called “Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020” that outlined various goals and objectives to be achieved by 2020. It was prepared in collaboration with US consultants, McKinsey & Company, who proposed the following:

• Poverty must be eradicated. Support the elderly and children, those who really need help.
• The people should be given the opportunity to live a healthy life along with practice and income.
• Small families should be encouraged for a healthy and prosperous society.
• Provide a happy life for little girls. They should be given the opportunity to use their energy 100 percent.
• Safeguard its environment and make its cities and villages clean, green and safe to live in.
• Enable small entrepreneurs and young professionals to make startups and build thriving industries and services business.
• Women and girls need to be empowered and supported to compete equally with men in society and in the economy.
• People should be provided with resources such as investments and infrastructure. These can transform their future.
• New techniques in agriculture, upmarket services, and innovations for quality produce should be promoted.
• The government should be transparent, accountable and responsive.
• The people’s voice should be heard loud and clear during the rule.

After returning as Chief Minister in 2014, Naidu updated the document to version 2.0, titled Sunrise AP Vision 2029.

Other activities

In 2000, both Bill Clinton (President of the United States) and Tony Blair (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) visited Hyderabad and met with Naidu. Bobby Ghosh of the American news magazine, Time commented, “In just five years, he has turned an impoverished, rural backwater place into India’s new information-technology hub”, and the magazine named Naidu, ‘South Asian of the Year’.

Investment policy

In way of investments and attractive incentives, the Naidu government won the honour of best tourism performing state with about 24% in all national tourist arrivals, record international aircraft movements, and occupancy raised by 100% in the same year. This led to employment generation direct and indirectly for 37.7 lakhs people raised by 12% in the hotel and hospitality industry, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, cabs and transportation, travel trade and booking services and bagged 6 tourism awards for excellence out of 14 categories at the national level.

Role in development of Hyderabad

HITEC City

In November 1998, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then prime minister of India and Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the HITEC City (nickanamed Cyberabad) by opening the Cyber Towers, a landmark building in Hyderabad. In anticipation of the growth of technology in the future, his government also concentrated on providing infrastructure such as roads, safety and resilience, transportation, telecommunications, IT parks and five-star hotels for the delegates’ meetings and accommodation and the HITEX International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Naidu once coined the slogan “Bye-bye Bangalore, hello Hyderabad” to further this aim and his government allotted lands and laid the foundations for major IT parks such as L&T Infocity Ascendas Park, Cyber Gateway, Raheja Mindspace Madhapur IT Park, and CyberPearl IT Park to partake in the IT industry boom. Naidu, at a press conference, discussed his plan to develop the state of Andhra Pradesh by making the major cities showpieces for foreign investment, especially in “key sectors such as information technology, biotechnology, healthcare, and various outsourcing services” and gave a brief PowerPoint presentation to Bill Gates that convinced him to establish Microsoft Corporation Research and Development (R&D) in Hyderabad, the company’s second-largest research and development campus outside the United States, a significant milestone in Hyderabad’s bid to become an information technology hub.

In 2001, the Naidu government declared the creation of the Cyberabad Development Authority (CDA) as a special enclave for the location of IT firms, research institutions and allied services around the existing HITEC City area in Hyderabad. Spread over an area of 52 km2, in the western periphery of the city covering the townships of Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur, Manikonda, and Nanakramguda, CDA CDA was conceived as a self-contained enclave providing premium infrastructure, such as gated residential housing, intelligent buildings, shopping malls, and transport facilities among others.

According to several national and international surveys, Hyderabad became an IT Hotspot of India in 2002 and Hyderabad became ranked number one in the city competitiveness compared of major cities in India to attract businesses. The economic reforms and new policy initiatives taken by the Naidu government in creating HITEC City provided a boost to Hyderabad’s urbanisation and, with big tech industry jobs in hand, has increased consumer purchasing power, leading to massive real estate developments, gated residential apartments, food and restaurants, intelligent business offices, cinema, and shopping malls in the area and Naidu’s efforts to make HITEC City India’s first and largest cybercity while today Cyberabad is a big technological project in Hyderabad, which emerged as the backbone of Telangana state’s economy.

Genome Valley

in 1999, Naidu established the Pharma City, an original, state-of-the-art biotechnology park in the country to the north of Hyderabad and promoted Genome Valley to leading multinational pharmaceutical companies like Novartis Pharma India, Shantha Biotechnics, Bharat Biotech, Biocon, Biological E. Limited, Jupiter Biosciences, and also requested other global IT companies like IBM, Dell, HSBC, Oracle Corporation to move to Hyderabad, making presentations to global CEOs and convincing them to invest and establish offices in Hyderabad.

Rajiv Gandhi international airport

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Shamshabad Airport) is an initiative of Chief Minister Naidu. When Hyderabad was attracting global investments the then operating Begumpet Airport was unable to handle air traffic. To promote the planned development of the area around the international airport, the Naidu government declared a special development area and called it as Hyderabad Airport Development Authority (HADA). Naidu led government acquired 5,495 acres of land for the airport in 2003. The airport was built on public private partnership basis, where only land is provided by the government, but entire construction cost and planning has to be taken care by Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR Group) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad in exchange of 76% stake in airport. The land lease and state share holder agreement was completed in 2003. Central consession agreement was signed by Dr.Manmohan Singh in December 2004. The airport construction has started and completed between 2005 and 2008 by GMR.

Other Infrastructure

In 2003, Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System, which began construction in 2001, was opened to the public under the Naidu Government. A joint venture between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the South Central Railway, The Phase-I was flagged off with the first MMTS train at Secunderabad railway station by the Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani while Naidu inaugurated its second leg. Over an operational length of 43 km, spanning 26 stations, the system operates over three major routes, Falaknuma–Lingampalli, Hyderabad–Falaknuma and Hyderabad–Lingampalli.

Leader of the opposition (2004–2014)

2004 election defeat

The Telugu Desam Party failed to retain power after two successive wins, losing to the Indian National Congress after winning only 47 of 294 seats in the state assembly and five of 42 in the Lok Sabha. While many of his ministers lost, Naidu won decisively in Kuppam and the loss was due to the government prioritising agriculture and farmers less in the annual budget than industrialisation and IT service-based improvements.

2009 election defeat

The TDP formed the Grand Alliance with support from the TRS Party who pitched for a separate state of Telangana, but Naidu lost to the Indian National Congress. Naidu’s party won only 92 of 294 seats in the state assembly and 6 of 42 in the Lok Sabha.

Third term as Chief Minister (2014–2019)

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Jana Sena Party returned to power in Andhra Pradesh state, winning 102 seats out of 175 seats. Naidu led the TDP to an outright majority. Naidu took oath as the first Chief Minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh at Mangalagiri on the grounds of Acharya Nagarjuna University near Guntur.

Welfare schemes

During the third term as the chief minister, Naidu’s government has taken up several welfare schemes, some of which include NTR Bharosa, bike ambulances, Mukhyamantri Yuvanestham and Pasupu Kumkuma.

NTR Bharosa scheme (transl. NTR’s assurance), started in January 2015, aims to provide pension of ₹1,000 per month to more than 40 lakh people who are in their old age, widow, physically challenged, toddy tappers and weavers. In 2017, people afflicted with chronic kidney disease were given pension under this scheme. In January 2019, Naidu increased the pension to ₹2,000. The succeeding YSRCP government, which won the 2019 elections, has renamed it to YSR Pension Kanuka scheme (transl. YSR’s gift of pension) and incremented the pension disbursed to ₹2,250.

In March 2018, Naidu’s government introduced bike ambulances. These ambulances provide medical care in the remotest parts of the state where these vehicles transport patients who require emergency care from the interiors of the forest to roads, especially in areas inaccessible by regular ambulances. This has been a boon in the tribal areas where the access by road is limited. Naidu was the Minister of Medical and Health at that time.

Mukhyamantri Yuvanestham (transl. Chief minister is youth’s friend), which aims to provide financial assistance to unemployed youth, was launched in October 2018. The succeeding YSRCP government has discontinued the scheme.

Pasupu Kumkuma (transl. Turmeric and Kumkuma), a welfare scheme aimed to provide financial help to women in self-help groups, is launched in February 2019. Under the scheme, each beneficiary would be provided ₹10,000 and a smartphone. In April, in response to a petition filed in Delhi High Court, the Election Commission of India has stated that the money transfer under the scheme does not violate the election code setup for the 2019 elections.

Foundation of Amaravati

The foundation for the city was laid at Uddandarayunipalem on 22 October 2015. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Naidu as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the Vice-President of India and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu; then Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan; the Japanese minister for economy trade and industry, Yōsuke Takagi; and the Singaporean Minister for Trade and Industry, S. Iswaran; laid the foundation for the city.

At a summit, Naidu said his ambition was to make Amaravati one of the happiest cities, encompassing the highest standards of livability and infrastructure with a thriving economic environment. Amaravati is based on trust and partnership with no single cash transaction between farmers and government in an agreement of returnable developed plots. It is the world’s largest successful voluntary land pooling, with 27,956 farmers offering 33,920 acres within three months, launching the project. The Land Pooling Scheme is now widely acknowledged as a global best practice without any land agitation from local people taken by Naidu’s government.

Irrigation projects

During this tenure, Naidu inaugurated Godavari–Krishna river interlink in September 2015, which became the country’s first rivers interlinking project. It is named as Pavitra Sangam (transl. holy confluence) and drains Godavari river’s flood water into Krishna river 174 km (108 mi) away at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada. Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project lifts the water from Godavari river and pumps into Polavaram right canal, which carries it and merges into Krishna river. Pattiseema project, was developed within a year, between March 2015 and March 2016. The first pump was inaugurated in September 2015, completing the connection of Godavari with Krishna. The project entered Limca Book of Records as the “first and fastest such irrigation project in the country to be completed in time, without any budget enhancements”. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India found irregularities with the Pattiseema project in its audit report. In the report, released during an Assembly session in March 2017, it criticised the government of awarding the project’s contract more than 20% excess over the estimated value and slammed the government for improper planning. The location of Pavitra Sangam is being developed with infrastructure required to promote tourism.

In August 2017, Naidu inaugurated the first phase of Purushothapatnam Lift Irrigation Scheme. The two-phased project aims to bring Godavari water into Yeleru reservoir, thereby serving the needs of East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and other northern districts of the state. In January 2019, Naidu inaugurated the second phase of the project. The succeeding YSRCP government has reviewed the project and made adopted modifications in February 2020, thereby resulting in a savings of more than ₹50 crores.

In November 2018, Naidu laid foundation to Godavari–Penna rivers interlinking project at an estimated cost of ₹83,796 crore in five phases. The project aims to bring Godavari water to Penna river through Krishna river. The project which was conceived several decades ago, once completed, would cater to the needs of drinking water and irrigation in Rayalaseema region. Irrigation experts raised questions over the project, asking how the project would sustain when there is not enough water. The construction work has started in February 2019, with a request from Naidu to complete the project within 12 months while the actual deadline was 24 months.

Following the report by the Joint Inspection Committee setup in January 2019, the National Green Tribunal has issued a stay order in August and restricted the succeeding YSRCP government from operating the Purushothapatnam Lift Irrigation project, Pattiseema project and halted the construction of Godavari–Penna rivers interlinking project, until it acquired environmental clearance.

In September 2015, Naidu inaugurated Thotapalli irrigation project, which he laid foundation in November 2003 when he was the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The project, constructed on Nagavali river for irrigational needs of Srikakulam district, was completed at a cost of ₹775 crores, against an estimated cost of ₹450 crores in 2003.

In September 2017, Naidu inaugurated the Muchumarri Lift irrigation scheme. The project, originally sanctioned in 2007, lifts Krishna river water from Srisailam Reservoir near Muchumarri, Kurnool district, and pumps to Handri-Neeva project and K. C. Canal. The Telangana government has raised objections over the project stating the drinking water crisis in its state was not addressed.

Other projects

Naidu laid foundation to Kurnool Airport in June 2017. Following the trial runs at the end of 2018, he has inaugurated the airport in January 2019. At this time, the runway and terminal buildings were constructed, however, works related to air traffic control were not completed. In March 2021, the airport is re-inaugurated by the succeeding Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and commercial operations began.

In July 2018, Naidu announced project Gandiva and Panchjanya. Project Gandiva aims to develop infrastructure for sports and train sportspersons and achieve medals at international events such as Olympic Games. He also laid foundation to Amaravati International Sports Complex, which includes a world-class stadium, to be constructed in the suburbs of Vijayawada at an estimated cost of ₹60 crore. Anil Kumble, Karnam Malleswari, Ashwini Nachappa and Koneru Humpy were among the guests at the inauguration. Project Panchjanya aims to identify physically fit teenagers across the state and train them in various sports.

In 2018, Naidu offered ₹100 crore to farmers who win a Nobel Prize in natural farming under the Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF). His government set a goal of bringing all the cultivable-land of about 8,000,000 hectares (20,000,000 acres) in the state into ZBNF by 2024, making every village a bio-village.

2015 Cash for Vote Scam

The 2015 cash-for-votes scam was a political scandal, the second scandal of its kind since the 2008 cash-for-votes scandal. It started off when the TDP leaders of Telangana state were caught in video footage, aired in the media, offering bribes to a nominated MLA, Elvis Stephenson, for his vote in the 2015 elections of the Telangana Legislative Council. The TDP MLA Revanth Reddy was arrested by the Telangana Police when he was offering ₹50 lakhs to Stephenson. Reddy was then presented before the court and was sent to jail. Similarly, the phone conversation, which was quoted as the voice of Naidu with Stephenson was aired in the news media.

The TDP alleged that the scandal was a political vendetta, doctored by the Telangana state government under the direction of K. Chandrashekhar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana, alongside the YSR Congress Party. In a further development, the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad granted bail to Revanth Reddy and two other co-accused due to lack of substantial evidence.

Role in election of the President of India

Naidu took the initiative to select K. R. Narayanan from the Dalit community as President of India. In 2002 Vajpayee then hoped to give the post of President to a Muslim. Naidu at the time played a leading role in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and proposed the name of eminent scientist A. P. J. Abdul Kalam as its presidential candidate. Naidu as kingmaker appealed to the opposition Congress, the left and other national and state parties to support the Kalam candidacy at this crucial juncture after the 2002 Gujarat riots happened in the Narendra Modi government’s tenure where the nation was racked by violence and there was a need to send the right signals to the international community and within the country with the support of Abdul Kalam. Naidu described the Dr. Kalam as the best choice besides making an outstanding contribution in the field of science and technology and said he was a humble, patriotic and non-political personality. Naidu was instrumental in Krishan Kant’s, then governor of Andhra Pradesh, elevation to the vice-president’s post in July 1997 when the United Front was in power at the Centre and Naidu was the UF convenor.

Assassination attempts

• On 1 October 2003 Naidu survived a land mine blast by the leftist People’s War Group using nine claymore mines buried in the Ghat Road. They exploded just a few minutes after the convoy crossed the Alipiri Tollgate Downhill. Naidu narrowly escaped death with a fractured left collarbone and hairline fractures to two ribs. The blast occurred about 16:00 IST when Naidu was travelling in a convoy to the Venkateswara Temple in the Tirumala Hills for the annual Brahmotsavam festival. State Information Minister B. Gopalakrishna Reddy, Telugu Desam legislator Ch. Krishnamurthy and driver Srinivasa Raju were also injured.
• Naidu is a Z Category Security Protectee and this was the second attempt by Maoists to assassinate him. The first attempt was in 1998 in Karimnagar District when he reimposed the ban on Militant outfits. Claymore mines were placed in a bullock cart beside the road, but they were detected just before by the intelligence department and at once the Naxals exploded the mines by remote control and nearby police constables were injured.
• The third time in October 2016 the Naxals released a letter of ‘Death Warning’ to Naidu as revenge for an encounter of their Maoists in Malkangiri District of Odisha in a joint operation between state and greyhound police, also stating that Naidu’s Government became a threat to them for continuing their Red Sanders Wood smuggling, showing a confrontation between Red sanders smugglers and the Anti-Smuggling task force of Andhra Pradesh state in the Seshachalam Forest, Chittoor district.

Leader of the opposition (2019–present)

The Telugu Desam Party (led by Naidu) lost the 2019 general elections to the YSR Congress Party led by Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy. It was the party’s biggest defeat since its inception in 1982; TDP won 23 assembly seats out of 175 and 3 Lok Sabha seats out of 25.

In September 2019, Naidu was taken into preventive custody by the police citing law and order issues as he planned to organise the Chalo Atmakur rally to protest political violence and the massacre of his Telugu Desam party activists by the ruling party. Following his arrest, Naidu went on a hunger strike to protest his house arrest.

In October 2020, at a conference held at IIT Bombay, Naidu called for Vision 2050, for the transformation in the country in the next 30 years, sharing his experiences with Vision 2020 document and the growth of HITEC City.

Legacy

United Nations Environment Programme

Naidu delivered a keynote address at an event titled “Financing Sustainable Agriculture: Global Challenges and Opportunities”, organised on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly. Naidu discussed the ZBNF program at the United Nations conference, starting his speech in Telugu and said it has been the most proud and unforgettable experience of his life. Naidu said that the state government has been encouraging ZBNF to reduce costs and risks in farming, more and safe, nutritious food, reverse migration to villages and enhance soil health to safeguard our collective future. He said microbial seed coating, bio-inoculants, cover crops, mulching, soil aeration, and zero chemicals will promote the living soil concept. He said a target was set to convert villages into bio-villages over a five-year period. The scale at which AP has implemented ZBNF has gathered praise and recognition internationally. He said that the zero budget farming will help to reach sustainable development goals.

As part of this, Naidu attended the Sustainable Development Impact Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and Bloomberg Global Business Forum held in New York, 2018. Naidu, as Chief Minister, launched the findings of the project, “Accelerating Sustainable Production” in Andhra Pradesh and reiterated the state’s commitment to achieving most of the SDGs by 2022. The report highlighted the progress achieved under the SDG framework in its first two years and pointed out areas that demand extra attention. The previous year’s report about SDG’s was also presented at the High-Level Political Forum, hosted at the United Nations headquarters, New York in July 2017.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

The CII organised the 22nd edition of CII Partnership Summit in 2016 with a partnership with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of Commerce and Industry at APIIC Ground, Harbour Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu signed 331 memoranda of investment proposals worth Rs 4.78 lakh crore into Andhra Pradesh and suggested steps to promote exports. It is expected that these understandings produce more than 10 lakh jobs in the next five years in the state. And in 2018 CII Summit approaching through innovative ways Naidu promote Sunrise Andhra Pradesh as the destination for business in India with attracting new investors as part of a summit with displaying the products that are manufactured in the State, including Kia cars, Foxconn cellphones, Apollo tyres, and others. “The exhibits have included everything that reflects the achievements, desires, and potential of the State. Three Summits from 2016-2018 attracted delegates from 40 – 50 countries, witnessed cumulative participation of over 10,000 delegates, and served as the platform for execution of cumulative 1,437 MoUs with a committed investment of Rs 13.35 lakh crores (USD 200 billion) and committed employment of 24.60 lakhs (2.46 million).

Real Time Governance Society(RTGS)

An approach with a people-first motto, the Naidu government strives to provide an agile and efficient public service delivery system benefiting nearly 50 million citizens in a 360-degree life cycle approach through its Real Time Governance(RTG) initiative. With the help of RTG, Andhra Pradesh can now swiftly resolve citizen grievances and monitor infrastructure projects, Crime and incidents, weather and climatic events across the state in real time, leveraging technology services. Keeping technology in its mind and citizen centricity in its heart, Real Time Governance is set to revolutionise governance in Andhra Pradesh, catalysing government operations to create a safer, more efficient and sustainable society. The Real Time Governance model is the most powerful and intellectual initiative by the Naidu government to make insightful decisions that vibrantly transform citizen services from pensions to street lights on/off time, that garnered global recognition and AP Real Time Governance facility has received Hitachi Transformation People’s Choice Award. And RTG is able to analyse big data sets operates from State Command and Communication Centre housed in the Secretariat Complex at Amaravati gathered from various data input sources from CC cameras, drones, biometric augmented technology and virtual reality, machine learning technology, Internet of Things (IoT), etc., adopting the most advanced technology of international standards for governance

Business career

The Heritage Group (HFL) was incorporated by Naidu in 1992. In 1994, HFL went for public issue to raise resources. Currently, the organisation is being led by Nara Brahmani, Naidu’s daughter-in-law. Heritage has hundreds of outlets throughout Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and a significant presence in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, NCR-Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh which comprises a solid portion of Naidu’s current assets.

Literary works

• India’s Glocal Leader, Tejaswini Pagadala
• Manasulo Maata, Sevanthi Nenon, An Autobiography of Chandrababu Naidu
• Nirantar Pragathi Ke Path Par Chandrababu Naidu (in Hindi), Dr. Inagati Lavanya

Case studies

• New Modern Economy Management in Andhra Pradesh: A Case Study of Sri Honorable Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu by authors N. Sree Ramulu and Morusu Siva Sankar

Awards and recognition

• The then Governor of Illinois, Jim Edgar, created a Naidu day on 24 September 1998 in his honour.
• Voted IT Indian of the Millennium in a poll by India Today and 20:20 Media.
• He was named South Asian of the Year in 1999 by Time magazine, USA
• In 2001, he was described as one of the hidden “Seven working wonders around the world“, by Profit, a monthly magazine published by Oracle Corporation, US.
• Business Person of the Year by Economic Times.
• Golden Peacock Award for Leadership in Public Service & Economic Transformation – 2017
• Global Agriculture Policy Leadership Award by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA).
• The Pune-based organisation, Bharatiya Chatra Sansad, in partnership with MIT School of Governance, honoured him with Aadarsh Mukhyamantri Puraskar (Model CM Award) in its 6th annual session on 30 January 2016.
• Transformative Chief Minister Award in May 2017 by US-India Business Council (USIBC) at West Coast Summit in the Silicon Valley.