20 years, 10 months ago

Lack of an alternative vision

OVER the nine years that he has presided over Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has repeatedly said that all `isms' are redundant expect `tourism', which can contribute to employment and revenue generation. With the money provided by international donor agencies such as the World Bank and the British government's Department for International Development, the Chandrababu Naidu government initiated many schemes. Chandrababu Naidu accused his opponents - the Naxalites, the Congress and the Left parties - of colluding in an "unholy alliance" to impede the government's development agenda. Recently, while addressing election rallies, Chandrababu Naidu has been raising Congress president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin as the "main" issue. A popular witticism doing the rounds is that Chandrababu Naidu has been the best Chief Minister of Hyderabad but not of Andhra Pradesh, a reference to the stupendous urban growth of the State's capital led by the Information Technology sector, in contrast with the crisis in agriculture.

The Hindu

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