India’s high-tech chief minister

Nara Chandrababu Naidu is a no-nonsense man. He does not smile often but is always polite and courteous. He crackles with energy and will not take no for an answer. “Find me a solution,” he says often and to all his bureaucrats and ministers.

It’s big business in Andhra Pradesh as the ‘High Tech CM” gets down to tackling the problems that a brand new state keeps throwing up.

The state’s treasury is empty — Naidu has indicated in the recent past that government salaries could be delayed. Water is becoming a problem as a harsh summer looms. There is not enough power to fulfill Naidu’s poll promise of uninterrupted power for the state. There is no state capital and it is only now being built from scratch. But his voters have given Naidu a thumping majority in the state simply because they know he can deliver.

Naidu first became Chief Minister of a united Andhra Pradesh in 1995 and went on to complete two consecutive terms. During this tenure he was instrumental in bringing information technology and global companies to Hyderabad, filling state coffers and changing the face and profile of the city. Farmers though gave him a thumbs down — they felt that Naidu had ignored their demands and impoverished them further.

In 2004, Naidu lost the state elections and another dynamic leader Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy of the Congress came to the helm.

Naidu has learnt his lessons well. Ten years of being in the Opposition have helped him understand the importance of paying attention to the rural and semi-rural areas and their issues. Riding an anti-Congress wave in 2014, tying up with the BJP at the Centre, Naidu was back with a thumping majority in newly divided Andhra.

For the very first time since he came to power in 2014, Naidu spoke out in a free and frank manner on a variety of topics exclusively with Khaleej Times. 

Is the state’s finances top of your mind?

CHANDRABABU NAIDU: The then Congress government, has done injustice to the new Andhra Pradesh. In 1995 I became chief minister for the first time of the combined AP state. At that time I had a problem — there was no income, the state was in a debt crisis and we were unable to pay salaries.

At that time Hyderabad was only a traditional town, not a city. There were two townships Hyderabad and Secunderabad and I constructed a new city. Because of that income rose, people all over the world, all over the country and from all districts came here and settled down. There was so much of economic activity — I created world class infrastructure, roads, airport, IT companies... in a focused way because of which there was more  revenue, income and jobs generation.

They (UPA government) did not take into account these factors. There’s huge dissatisfaction amongst the public in Andhra. The Congress has buried its own 125 year heritage, they got only 1.25% votes and in many cases nowhere near their deposits. Congress is nowhere now, it is one forgotten story.

The problem is now in the new state. Almost  59% of the population is in the new state. As of today there’s only 47% income and 41% of the population gets 53% of the income. So we have big problems, no capital, no income, no infrastructure and losses upon losses. But I’m working on it. One by one I’m creating things. I have made election promises, I have to fulfill them, I have to promote the state, I have to bring in investment. But I am confident.

The government of India, both the BJP and the Congress, made some promises in parliament. Because it was a sensitive issue they wanted to go for bifurcation. At the same time they announced 5-6 major decisions — special category status, special package, special incentives for industries, special tax incentives and some other additional projects like Polavaram, for Vishakhapatnam. They must now implement it. 

Is it moving too slowly for you? Should the Centre speed things up?

Because they are having some trouble [now] they are not moving. 

You were also talking about how government salaries may not be paid due to this.

I cannot withhold the salaries otherwise employees will turn against me. Ultimately development will be affected. If I don’t develop I will have a problem again. 

What’s your biggest challenge as the chief minister of a new state?

The challenge is the crisis but I’ve always taken crisis as an opportunity. That’s in my nature. 

As you mentioned you are the person who brought a lot of foreign companies to Hyderabad, in a sense, made what Hyderabad it is today. Do you feel like a stranger in the city that you yourself have created? You are being treated almost like a second class citizen in your own city.

Why should I feel that? People are with me. Even in the recent elections, Hyderabadis voted for me and the BJP. Out of 4 Assembly seats, we got more than 2 in Hyderabad. So they are with us. What I’ve developed, I did so for the community, for the Telugu people. 

Possibly the biggestt tragedy of this whole process is that the Telugu people have been divided into Telangana and Andhra. Do you see that as a tragedy that should not have happened?

From the beginning I’ve been saying there’s politics involved in everything. At the same time the policy makers handling the issue failed miserably and the people paid the price. From the beginning I have been saying, both regions are one community, they are Telugu people, don’t divide them. Boundaries can be divided but don’t divide their hearts, this is not correct. But they (TRS and UPA government) were not bothered because of political gains.

Today I want to unite Telugu people again. But there are problems in both states — money, governance, future prospects these are all problems. Again it’s only a continuous process — how you are going to work, visualise things and in a competitive world compete and win.

I developed Hyderabad in 10 years, I can develop a similar capital in Andhra too. But Hyderabad and Telangana is also my concern. But I will unite them and also take them forward by providing employment and development so that it benefits both the states. 

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao has spoken about you in very nasty terms and has abused you as well. What do you think of KCR?

He was my follower. I nurtured him and handheld him, so why should I call him names? He is not a stranger, he was no entity at that time. My father-in-law was the party president and chief minister. At that time he (KCR) was my follower. I built him. He may talk, it’s okay, that’s his headache why should I bother about that?

There’s a lot of criticism against your land pooling policy. Critics it’s encouraging crony capitalism and land sharks have become active.

Why would people think like that. This land belongs to farmers. Now everyone is talking about farmers and how they have to benefit and be given incentives. Even if you give incentives, farmers will get peanuts. What I’ve done  is to give 25% of developed land back to the farmer, 25% will be taken by the state and 50% will be used for infrastructure development. By this, the farmer will benefit by 4-5 times. What’s wrong with that? Even if he sells it, let him sell it for a good price. Otherwise people are purchasing land there from the farmers and farmers are ending up with lesser rates. In Hyderabad when I started development there was government land which I developed. We took over other lands to a small extent only for road building and other infrastructure activity. Because of development and infrastructure, the rates of private lands shot up. Each farmer got Rs30-40 crores for his land. We encouraged it at that time and I am encouraging it now. 

There’s a large NRI population in the UAE. Do you think NRI voting should be extended to state elections?

They should be able to vote for all elections, not just for one. Only then will they have confidence and can be useful in nation building.

In the UAE there are more Telugus amongst the Indians living there. India is moving very fast. There’s enthusiasm amongst all NRIs around the world. 

How much time do you think it is going to take to implement your poll promises?

It’s a continuous process. I announced all these things when it was a combined state. After that many developments have taken place and so many problems have cropped up. But I’ve kept my promises and am implementing [them] one by one. 

You have always been known as the ‘High Tech CM’ but now you seem to have started talking a lot about the rural areas and farmers. You seem to be addressing the population that you were accused of neglecting in your previous stint.

It is not like that. Technology is something that should be useful to all sectors. Even today I’m number one in the country in terms of using technology in government. I’ve already implemented Aadhar  and all benefits have been linked to it.

I introduced the e-cabinet and e-office. We are planning a special purpose vehicle with Wipro for e-governance. How do you use digitalisation in an agricultural economy? How do you change the lives of rural poor by using technology? For example I can tell you  if I get all maternity cases online and infants upto the age of five years, I can nurture all women who are pregnant as well as all children upto the age of five years. I can then reduce infant mortality and maternity mortality. That’s the benefit I am looking at.