May 31, 1999
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ANDHRA PRADESH Brand Positioning In the run-up to the elections, Naidu goes into overdrive to project himself as a man who delivers on his promises. By Amarnath K Menon
As the TDP prepares for a massive show of strength at the party mahanadu (convention) in Secunderabad to coincide with founder N.T. Rama Rao's birth anniversary on May 28, Naidu has gone into overdrive. The mahanadu has traditionally been held on a grand scale and is used by TDP satraps to give a fillip to party morale, particularly in election years. The impending one is expected to be no different. Naidu has already written individually to five lakh TDP members, asking them to attend the convention. At the government level, he has been directly involved in the day-to-day functioning of most of the ministries-even at the cost of offending cabinet colleagues or leaving ministers sulking. Naidu, who has a predilection for hi-tech teleconferences, is in touch with his district collectors and other officials for a good two hours daily. Popular weekly phone-in programmes beamed by the local All India Radio and Doordarshan have also been providing him with the perfect platform for public redressal. Naidu, who is conscious of criticism that he has been ignoring the contributions of NTR, has begun to make amends. But while he has been drawing on these contributions, the emphasis is on his own performance in the past four years. He plans to sell one lakh copies of a cassette extolling the TDP and the role of NTR and himself in the coming weeks. The NTR Memorial Trust building, the new party office, is to be ready by May 28. And inspired by the MGR memorial on Marina beach in Chennai, Naidu is also raising a Rs 26 crore NTR Garden in front of the Hussain Sagar lake. However, Naidu's opponents have been quick to point out that the grand plans are being made at the state's expense and that such efforts would do little to compensate for his misgovernance. Moreover, they add, Naidu has to contend with the incumbency factor, disaffection of the minorities and estrangement of the Left which will prove trying. Putting up a brave front, Naidu says his party will fight the elections alone but sources in the TDP admit he is keeping his options open for a seat-sharing alliance with the BJP. The Congress maintains Naidu is anti-poor, with state party chief Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy levelling a series of charges against him. There is also the nuisance value of brother-in-law and breakaway Anna TDP chief N. Harikrishna, who accuses Naidu of ignoring the poor. It's a point the calculating chief minister seems to have taken note of. With the result that in a strategic shift the party is underplaying Naidu's techno-savvy image. The TDP is convinced that it has the backing of the middle classes but is apprehensive of alienating rural voters by talking about it. This is being made clear to the cadres as well. "Mine is an innovative style of governance based on welfare. My hard work will be recognised by the people," says Naidu. To lend credence to his words, Naidu points to statistics. He says the annual growth rate of the state, which was 2.55 per cent in 1994-95 when he took over, rose to 9.53 per cent in 1998-99. "What the Congress could not do in 40 years, we managed in four years," he adds. The "achievements" which the TDP plans to highlight are the creation of local self-help groups, improvement of roads, implementation of poverty alleviation schemes and empowerment of women. But people belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes complain that the TDP has ignored their interests and that only 4,500 of around 34,500 posts reserved for them in the government have been filled. The minorities too, led by Muslim Representation Movement President Khader Mohiuddin, are demanding that all parties give them a 15 per cent share of the tickets. Naidu knows it's not easy to meet such demands. He is banking on what his critics call populist policies to get the support of the rural pockets. He has even announced that his Government would spend Rs 300 crore to provide farmers a canal system through the 10,000 water-user associations before they sow the kharif crop by June end. The idea is to sell his image as a doer with an identity distinct from that of NTR's. Naidu believes the brand image is building up. Whether it will help reap a harvest only the year-end will tell. |
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Elections are dreaded by
politicians. Especially by those safely ensconced in office. For Nara Chandrababu Naidu,
the problem is compounded by having to face to two elections-to the Lok Sabha in September
and the Assembly in December, if it is not advanced. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
president and state chief minister is a man in a hurry, desperate to seize the initiative
from the opposition Congress and project himself as one who delivers on his promises. 
