‘Kingmaker Naidu Returns’

 

‘Yes’— that was the headline on page 3 of the Economic Times of 5^th June 2024. Similar comments —“Naidu calls shots in Delhi”, “the CEO of AP is back in power”, etc.— were, of course, aired by every other member of the national media.

People of Andhra are however not enthused by that coverage, for it does not make much material difference to them. Rather, what they are concerned more about is:

• Can Mr Naidu make the abandoned Amaravati a functional city, vibrant with life?
• Can Mr Naidu restore law and order in the State to its rightful place?
• Can Mr Naidu complete the remaining 25% construction work of the Polavaram project and operationalize it?
• Can he create employment in the State?
• Can he generate income for the State which phenomena squarely rests on capital-incentive projects, which in turn calls for infrastructure development?

True, these tasks are not going to be easy, for Mr Naidu and his government are likely to face an acute shortage of financial resources. But his electoral college knows that the 75-year-old Naidu— a politician with a never-say-die attitude—weathered several such storms in the past, including an attack on his life by Naxalites in 2002, and hence, pinning all their hope on him, look forward to a liberal, law-abiding and an economically vibrant Andhra.

Interestingly, in a recent meeting with his party’s newly elected MPs, Mr Naidu said: “You will see a new Chandra Babu from now… there is an accusation that Chandra Babu will not change. It will not continue anymore…”

People of Andhra therefore presume that he “would not repeat the mistakes that he had committed during his previous tenure as the Chief Minister”. This indeed gives new hope to the farmers of Amaravati who willingly enabled him to procure 34000 acres of land for the proposed capital of the newly formed Andhra Pradesh. In this context, they expect Mr Naidu to:

• set aside his passion for building iconic structures such as those designed for housing legislative assembly, high court, etc., for their designing and construction are time-consuming and highly capital-intensive, and instead, build the road network as per his original plan of the city, create supporting urban infrastructure such as sewage system, electric lines, etc. so that it becomes ready for building superstructures by public and private investors…
• be content with the present structures that are housing the assembly and high court, at least for the time being so that the time, energy and financial resources can be used to make the pooled land ready for utilization by various agencies interested in setting up their establishments
• handover the developed and reconstituted plots to farmers who participated in the Land Pooling Scheme as agreed in the development program
• focus time and energy on finishing the construction of buildings such as secretariat towers, Judges' quarters, etc. that were left half-done and make them ready for occupation by the concerned on top priority
• pursue the Central Government Departments/Public Sector Undertakings that have earlier got the land allotted for them to construct their office buildings and also impress upon them to start functioning from Amaravati at the earliest
• pay the promised lease rentals to farmers of Amaravati that have been in pending for payment
• convince private establishments such as HCL Technologies, Amrita University, etc., who had acquired land and indeed started construction of buildings for establishing their institutions but half the way abandoned to start their operations in Amaravati by impressing them about the permanence of Amaravati as the capital city of AP.
• invite afresh tech companies, both global and domestic, to establish their service centres in Amaravati by showcasing the merits of Amaravati such as the availability of a pool of skilled manpower, a newly built planned city with hassle-free mobility, etc.
• squash the cases filed by police against the peacefully agitating Amaravati farmers, including women who relinquished lands under the LPS against the three capital proposals of the previous regime for more than three years

Simply put, citizens of AP are expecting Mr Naidu to make Amaravati fully functional in the coming three to five years so that no one can dare doubt its stature as the capital city of AP in the days to come. They also believe that once Amaravati is made functional with basic urban infrastructure in place, it grows on its own through private investment thereafter—even if someone shifts the Court or Secretariat to another place in the future.

Such a danger of shifting the administrative offices to other places cannot be ruled out since Indian polity is known for its idiosyncrasies: in our country, opposition party’s sole duty is to oppose everything that the ruling party does—whether it is good or bad, and once it comes to power, reverse all the decisions of the previous regime —no matter what it costs to the exchequer. That being the reality, people are looking at Mr Naidu to give a permanent shape to Amaravati in the coming three to four years.

Another important expectation of the youth from Mr Naidu is: Creation of employment. The ‘India Employment Report 2024’ released by ILO states that India’s large young workforce, often considered a demographic advantage, faces challenges due to lack of necessary skills. It states that a “significant portion of youth lacks basic digital literacy skills, with 75% unable to send emails with attachments, … and 90% unable to perform basic spreadsheet tasks like putting a mathematical formula”.

The report suggests “integrating high-quality skills training into education to uplift economically disadvantaged groups and boost employability. It also recommends improving access to IT and bridge the digital gap”. Despite the bitterest experience meted out by the previous regime to Mr Naidu, the youth of the State look at him to facilitate the development of their skills and make them employable, which calls for further strengthening the skill development facilities in the State.

Hope of the State is: Mr Naidu will simply deliver what the State is fondly expecting from him.