Chandrababu Naidu in conversation with Ravi R. Ponangi

No place for politics in NTR Memorial Trust: Chandrababu Naidu

Washington, DC: N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and president of Telugu Desam Party, has been known as an able administrator and shrewd politician. In a candid interview in Washington, DC, he spoke to Ravi R. Ponangi, Atlanta based journalist, on issues of importance to NRIs and Indians.

Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and president of Telugu Desam Party N. Chandrababu Naidu was recently on a tour of the US promoting his latest pet project, the NTR Memorial Trust. Better known as CEO Chief Minister and running his government as a corporate institution, he brought several changes through his progressive policies in Andhra Pradesh. If his mentor and father-in-law, the late N.T. Rama Rao, could bring a distinct identity to Telugus in the country, Chandrababu Naidu, with his astute abilities and reforms, put Andhra Pradesh on the world map.

Despite his busy schedule in Washington, DC, where he attended TANA convention in culmination of his 10-city tour, he spoke to Ravi. He made it clear that he was not aspiring to be the Prime Minister of India, he was only keen on raising funds for his latest pet project, NTR Memorial Trust, aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged rural people, requesting NRIs to emulate Israelis and become entrepreneurs and philanthropists, his disillusionment with United Front (UF) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), his recent efforts in forming United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) as a third front, and his philosophy as a politician. Following are the excerpts from the interview

Ravi: I know that you played a major role in the formation of the United Front (UF) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments and made a couple of Prime Ministers and Presidents. Now you are forming the United National Progressive Alliance, (UNPA) to create a third front. What made you to withdraw from the UF and the NDA, and what are you expecting from the third front now?

Chandrababu Naidu: We are very clear. The UNPA has been created with a specific purpose. But the BJP is going one side. There is a communal agenda. It won’t work in India. Even during the NDA government time, I was very clear about it. But they did not listen to me. So we differed from their ideology. Day by day, the Congress Party is also drifting. They have different problems. So we have created the UNPA with like-minded parties. We joined together with an alternative economic program. We have formed as an alternative economic political platform.


Ravi: Could you tell our readers, as a politician how do you mange problems?

Chandrababu Naidu: The biggest problem is to convince people, to bring consensus and also to bring all people to one platform. It is a biggest challenge. Everybody wants to retain individual identity. While retaining our individual identity, we have to work together. In a democracy, consensus is the best way. But how do we build this consensus? Once we build consensus, everybody falls in line. That is the biggest exercise that any politician in India or in any other country is expected to do. So, we have to convince, coordinate, and motivate people in that direction. That is the biggest challenge.

Ravi: If you are not a politician, what would you have done?

Chandrababu Naidu: I would have done very good by working in any industry, business or ever in so many other activities… for that matter, even social service. But being in politics, I want to do all these jobs. For a hard working politician, it is possible to change the society for the better, by serving the society most efficiently. That’s why I am here.