Naidu following in YSR’s footsteps to regain power

For N Chandrababu Naidu, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was a bitter rival but today the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president is taking out every leaf out of the late chief minister’s book in a bid to return to power in Andhra Pradesh in the 2014 elections.The leader of the opposition is not only taking to streets demanding the implementation of welfare schemes launched by his nemesis when he was in power 2004-09, but is also following in his footsteps to woo back the people.Naidu, who was chief minister from 1995 to 2004 until YSR unseated him, is embarking on a ‘padyatra’ or walkathon to interact with people and know their problems.The TDP president will cover 2,320km during his 117-day long ‘padyatra’ from October 2 to January 26, 2013.Naidu, who is the longest serving chief minister in the state’s history, plans to surpass YSR, who had undertaken a 64-day ‘padyatra’ in 2003, which catapulted the Congress Party back to power in the state.Covering 1,500km across the state, YSR cashed in on the disenchantment among people, especially the farmers.The only difference between the two yatras is that YSR had walked under scorching sun while Naidu will be doing so in winter.The TDP feels it is the right time for Naidu to embark on such a yatra as the people are fed up with the Congress ‘misrule’. A senior party leader said every section of the society is unhappy with the government. “The farmers are facing problems, there is severe electricity shortage seriously affecting agriculture and industrial sectors and students are unhappy over fee reimbursement issue,” he said.The TDP, however, does not like the comparison with YSR’s yatra. It points out that there was no corruption during its rule while the Congress government is neck-deep in scams.Naidu will be trying to highlight the corruption during YSR rule, which led to the arrest of one minister while another minister has been charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).The federal agency, which has arrested YSR’s son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in an illegal assets case, is also probing the role of some other ministers in issuing controversial orders.Political analysts feel Naidu is keen to win back people’s confidence as he is seen as a leader with poor credibility. During the last few years, he admitted neglecting agriculture when he was the chief minister. He also learnt a bitter lesson from his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and is trying to regain the confidence of minorities.Naidu as chief minister had opposed YSR’s promises, mainly the free electricity to farmers. But today he is fighting with the government to continue the freebies offered by the YSR government.