Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu begun his election campaign for the Telangana polls from AP capital Amaravati, by addressing one meeting in a day or by providing leaks to the yellow media, thereby invariably supporting the Congress-led people’s alliance in Telangana.
The TDP supremo, who had earlier confessed to having planned on forging an alliance with the TRS in Telangana, said that caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) is incapable of driving growth in Telangana. Would Chandrababu have uttered the same words if the TRS-TDP alliance had been a reality?
Chandrababu would have praised KCR drawing parallel to the growth stories in Telangana and AP. At the same time, it is being perceived that the AP chief minister was inclined to joining hands with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi due to several reasons.
Has KCR really failed to drive Hyderabad to progress? Or is it true that only Chandrababu, during his rule until 14 years ago, was responsible for the development of Hyderabad? Will the Congress agree with Chandrababu’s claim of credit for Hyderabad’s development? Should we consider Chandrababu Naidu as the mastermind of Hyderabad’s development for constructing the Hitec City and naming the region as Cyberabad?
It should be recalled that it was in the regime of late Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy that the Gachibowli Financial district was developed. Chandrababu’s Hitec City area is a symbol of unorganised engineering while the Financial district is a world-class marvel. But, the Congress leaders are unfortunately in a state where they can’t promote Dr. YSR’s work.
In KCR’s rule, IT minister KTR has earned a reputation for his reasonably good work. It should be remembered that Chandrababu is capable of successfully taking credit for the development of Hyderabad in the last 14 years. It may also be recalled that Chandrababu tried his best to halt the Outer Ring Road during Dr. YSR’s rule.
It was also during the YSR regime that the idea of PVNR Expressway was conceived. Development is a permanent process. Yet, it appears that only Chandrababu has the ability to bag credit for others’ work.
On the other side, there arises another debate on whether KCR is making full use of the revenue from Hyderabad. While Chandrababu caused a lot of problems to the industries with constant power cuts, KCR earned the reputation of providing seamless power supply. At the same time, Chandrababu could build nothing but temporary buildings in Amaravati after promising to turn the capital into Singapore in five years.
KCR was cautious in controlling the law and order situation in Hyderabad. As a result, the TRS won 99 seats in the GHMC elections. But, it does not mean that there are no flaws in KCR’s governance.
Some parts of Telangana have reservations over Chandrababu’s intervention in the Telangana polls. It is feared that Chandrababu might use the elections in the pretext of alliance with the Congress for creating differences between various sections in the poll-bound State.
However, analysts are of the view that KCR has lost his credibility for not taking judicial action against Chandrababu in the note for vote case. After stating that even the Lord couldn’t save Chandrababu in the case, KCR himself saved the TDP Chief from danger, they say.
Political principles insist that opportunities should be grabbed with both hands. For reasons unknown, KCR wasn’t successful in seizing the opportunity, which is why Chandrababu is being vocal against KCR for the first time in three years.
Will KCR show his strength and rise to the occasion?
