Chandrababu Naidu has once again tried to raise the stakes on the special package for Andhra Pradesh. He says he is upset at the way his partner, the BJP, is treating the three-and-half-year-old state. The latest irritant is the under construction Polavaram irrigation project, which has been plagued by delays. Since the project is given the status of ‘national importance’, the Central government is a major financier.
Upset by the delays, Naidu decided to award some critical components of the project to a new contractor. But, the Union water resources ministry, which finances the project, has told the state not to change the contractor. Naidu thinks the new water resources minister Nitin Gadkari is throwing his weight around, and says his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is not going too far in the protests only because of its alliance with the BJP.
Unlike the NDA-1 of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, where Naidu had enormous clout as the second largest party in the alliance, the TDP now has a diminished role in the Centre, with only one cabinet minister. The minister, Ashok Gajapati Raju, sticks to his responsibility of civil aviation, leaving Naidu to deal directly with Narendra Modi and the senior ministers. An important interlocutor for Chandrababu Naidu was fellow Andhra man and senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu, who was a major voice in the government, until he became vice president. He could tell ministerial colleagues to give special treatment to requests from Andhra Pradesh. Even though he is still helpful to the home state, there are limits of the constitutional office.
Chandrababu Naidu | PTI
Chandrababu Naidu knows that he cannot pull the plug on the alliance, as the BJP has sent signals to Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the main opposition leader in the state. Though Reddy faces corruption charges from Central agencies, he has been careful not to criticise the Central government, and has concentrated his fire on the chief minister. Reddy’s YSR Congress, which is a rebellious offshoot of the Congress, is also weighing its options before the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections, both to be held in 2019, if on schedule.
Naidu has, however, informed the world that the new state capital, Amaravati, is ready and doing business. He has been trying to attract large chunks of foreign direct investment, but the preferred destination is still Telangana capital, Hyderabad, which, ironically, he had built as the the cyber hub of India. Naidu is now persona non grata in Hyderabad, which is ruled by arch-rival K. Chandrashekar Rao, whose government is pursuing criminal cases against the AP chief minister.
But, Naidu is a master tactician who waits for the right chance to take advantage of political situations, and he will have his own tricks for the BJP in the coming year and half.
sachi@theweek.in
