Chief executive of Andhra Pradesh. Cyber CM. Kingmaker. Those who have worked with him call him a pragmatist, referring to his ability to convert a crisis into an opportunity.
Life comes full circle for the TDP chief as he scripts his return to the Andhra assembly as chief minister
Chief executive of Andhra Pradesh. Cyber CM. Kingmaker. Those who have worked with him call him a pragmatist, referring to his ability to convert a crisis into an opportunity.
But the political climate ahead of elections to the assembly in Andhra Pradesh and the Lok Sabha in 2014 was an unfamiliar one. The United Progressive Alliance government had, with one sweeping announcement, carved out the new state of Telangana, stripping Andhra Pradesh of its capital city Hyderabad.
This was no minor shift; for many, it was an upheaval that left Andhra searching for an anchor. Against this backdrop, Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), brokered alliances in 2014 with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP).
When the ballots were counted that year, the TDP-led alliance claimed victory with 106 assembly seats and a vote share of 44.43%.
A first-generation politician, Naidu is a mastermind in political strategies, especially when it comes to coalition politics. “Naidu’s success mantra is that one must effectively use the given opportunity and convert every adversity into an advantage,” says E Venkatesu, professor of political science at the University of Hyderabad, who helped Naidu select candidates for the 2004 election.
Yet it was only ahead of the 2024 elections that Naidu brought his trump card to the table.
The 2014 bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, which gave Hyderabad and its information technology hub to Telangana, was the trigger in the state’s demands for special category status (SCS). For Naidu, the status was not merely a matter of pride but a strategic necessity to compensate for the economic blow of bifurcation.
Naidu had so far championed a neoliberal model of development but from 2014, his priorities started to shift. His focus expanded to address the structural needs of the state with plans to construct a capital that would require a staggering 30,000 acres of land.
Nara Chandrababu Naidu is not just a name or a politician, but a brand in itself. And that is the crucial and pivotal point in bringing back the TDP in Andhra. Jyothsna Tirunagiri, TDP spokesperson
By 2018, tensions with the central government had reached breaking point. After repeated denials of the SCS request, Naidu made a dramatic exit from the alliance.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he outlined his disillusionment: the TDP had joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the hope that Andhra Pradesh “will get justice” through the grant of SCS. With the BJP unwilling to meet this need, Naidu argued, the alliance had lost its purpose.
In the meantime, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the leader of the opposition in Andhra Pradesh, embarked on a padyatra, tapping into public discontent and mobilising the masses ahead of the 2019 polls. The TDP lost the elections.
Electoral data reveals a hard truth: without alliances, the TDP could never emerge the victor. So, when assembly and Lok Sabha elections drew near this year, Naidu, the strategist, moved to mend fences with the BJP.
Though the BJP managed to secure a third consecutive term at the Centre, it owed its final victory to its allies, chief among them Naidu’s TDP. The celebrations for Naidu, however, began well before the national results were in. Winning 164 assembly seats, he reclaimed the throne he lost five years ago. And with the revival of coalition government in Indian politics, he strengthened the bargaining power for the TDP and Andhra Pradesh.
“Nara Chandrababu Naidu is not just a name or a politician but a brand in itself. And that is the crucial and pivotal point in bringing back TDP in Andhra,” says Jyothsna Tirunagiri, TDP spokesperson.
With the 14th Finance Commission putting an end to the practice of SCS for states, Naidu has changed his approach for the time being. Days before the Union Budget announcement, he made his case to the Centre, urging for federal assistance to jump start the Amaravati capital project, fund the Polavaram project and push forward other critical infrastructure.
This time, the BJP had little choice but to accept most of Naidu’s demands. In a marked shift, the Budget affirmed the Centre’s commitment to establishing Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh’s capital and outlined support for the Polavaram project.
In a post on social media platform X, Naidu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “This support from the Centre will go a long way towards rebuilding Andhra Pradesh,” he said. As a politician, Naidu has reminded his allies over the years that his loyalty is not bound to a particular ideology, but to the people he serves. His political comeback could be among the best things to happen to Andhra Pradesh in the past decade.