Courtesy Indian Airlines, N. Chandrababu Naidu has grown
accustomed to spending nights in Delhi and days in Hyderabad. He has done it for much of
the past 21 days, clocking more frequent-flyer points than is good for a chief minister.
But then, unlike Jyoti Basu, M. Karunanidhi and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, for whom the
Centre is a remote entity, Naidu takes his role as convener of the UF Steering Committee a
trifle too seriously. A hi-tech buff who sees great opportunities in globalisation, Naidu
is a regional player who wants to have a toehold in Delhi. He played a pivotal role in
ensuring that the UF was absolutely unwavering in its commitment to the DMK. The choice
was made easier by the fact that it was Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh who were in the
forefront of the anti-DMK offensive. He was unfazed by the threat of dissolution:
"Nobody in the UF will lose anything since we are in power in the states." To
keep that power intact, Naidu will be flexible. He has reason to remember the fate of
those chief ministers like Ramakrishna Hegde, N.T. Rama Rao and Devi Lal who got so
enmeshed in national politics that they forgot their primary responsibility.
Courtesy Indian Airlines, N. Chandrababu Naidu has grown
accustomed to spending nights in Delhi and days in Hyderabad. He has done it for much of
the past 21 days, clocking more frequent-flyer points than is good for a chief minister.
But then, unlike Jyoti Basu, M. Karunanidhi and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, for whom the
Centre is a remote entity, Naidu takes his role as convener of the UF Steering Committee a
trifle too seriously. A hi-tech buff who sees great opportunities in globalisation, Naidu
is a regional player who wants to have a toehold in Delhi. He played a pivotal role in
ensuring that the UF was absolutely unwavering in its commitment to the DMK. The choice
was made easier by the fact that it was Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh who were in the
forefront of the anti-DMK offensive. He was unfazed by the threat of dissolution:
"Nobody in the UF will lose anything since we are in power in the states." To
keep that power intact, Naidu will be flexible. He has reason to remember the fate of
those chief ministers like Ramakrishna Hegde, N.T. Rama Rao and Devi Lal who got so
enmeshed in national politics that they forgot their primary responsibility.
