Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu inspecting the Amaravati capital region. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rode on an anti-incumbency wave to power, winning 135 of the 175 Assembly seats. The Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP) won 21 seats, while the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) secured 8 seats. Together, the three parties constituting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) reduced the Jagan Mohan Reddy-YSR Congress Party just 11 seats. Mr. Reddy’s party, which had won 151 seats in the 2019 Assembly elections, did not even win enough seats to qualify for the status of Opposition party in the Assembly.
Mr. Naidu, who had been written off some years ago, has proved his naysayers wrong, but chief ministership this time is not going to be a bed of roses. He carries the massive burden of expectations and responsibility.
His foremost challenge is to keep his flock together and ensure that they work well with the leaders of the JSP and BJP. When the alliance was announced for the elections, there was rebellion among the cadres of all three parties. Mr. Naidu and Mr. Kalyan managed to quell the dissent tactfully, and all the cadres worked together to see that there was vote transfer between the parties. This is said to be one of the main reasons for the landslide victory of the NDA in Andhra Pradesh.
However, the sharing of power is always a bigger challenge to confront. This begins with the allocation of cabinet berths, which calls for expert human resource management. Mr. Naidu, an experienced politician, appears to have handled this well so far, by giving due importance to Mr. Kalyan and also making him the Deputy Chief Minister of the State. He has also given a ministerial berth to the BJP’s Satya Kumar Yadav.
The three leaders of all the three parties — Mr. Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Mr. Kalyan — have different personality traits. Their communication skills and trust in one another will be key in keeping the alliance together.
Mr. Naidu’s party has a clear mandate this time. It is evident that he has the upper hand in the alliance, including at the Centre, where the BJP does not have a majority. Thus, the people of Andhra Pradesh expect him to deal with the Union government more firmly and deftly to secure good deals and packages for the State’s development. They expect him to finally secure Special Category Status and manage the completion of a few major projects, such as Polavaram, and also stop the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant soon.
Andhra Pradesh is in the ‘red’ with a huge financial deficit. A number of projects are pending due to lack of funds. There have been no substantial investments in the State in the last few years. Unemployment is high. In this backdrop, Mr. Naidu has promised ‘super six’ guarantees.
Mr. Reddy spent about ₹4.25 lakh crore on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and non-DBT schemes during his regime. The State’s public debt amounts to about ₹4.83 lakh crore. According to the Reserve Bank website, the Andhra government offered to sell securities worth ₹2,000 crore on June 11 through auction. As per one estimate, Mr. Naidu has to generate close to ₹1.21 lakh crore to fund his welfare schemes per annum.
On July 1, Mr. Naidu has to disburse about ₹4,500 crore to 65 lakh pensioners across the State. He has increased the monthly pension from ₹3,000 to ₹4,000 in general as part of his ‘super six’ guarantees. Salaries amount to an additional ₹6,000 crore. In the first month alone, he has to spend about ₹10,000 crore. This apart, he has to reimburse the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation an amount of about ₹2,000 crore per annum for making bus rides free for women.
Meanwhile, he has to complete the promised greenfield capital at Amaravati. In 2014, after becoming the first Chief Minister of residual Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Naidu had pooled about 33,000 acres of land from the farmers of Amravati to build the new capital. He had spent about ₹10,500 crore between 2014 and 2019, but the capital went into limbo when Mr. Reddy came to power and floated the idea of three capitals instead. Mr. Naidu’s initial budget of ₹21,000 crore in 2015 has now shot up to more than ₹40,000 crore. It is unclear where he will get these funds.
The path ahead is filled with hurdles, but the people hope that the veteran leader, who has fought many battles in the past, will overcome these too.