If one were to go by a random poll by BW| Businessworld of the delegates taking part in the Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment meet -- CII Partnership summit in Visakhapatnam, Naidu is almost already there -- representing the "most credible face of reforms" in the country. Among the Chief Ministers, he's inarguably at the top, even if Gujarat came at the top of the ease of doing business index released sometime back.
"He's an incredibly successful, and forward looking Chief Minister and this state will grow by leaps and bounds under him," said Sean Kelly, Australian Government's Consul-General to South India, talking to BW.
This is a view shared by most of the delegates from the 42 countries taking part in the summit in Visakhapatnam. This, of course, may have a bias of its own.
But sample what Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has to say about Naidu. "In the last few months, ambassadors of 34-35 countries have met me. Apart from PM Modi, if there's someone they talk about, it's Chandrababu Naidu," the Union Minister said at the Sunrise Summit.
The CM recounted a story from his past to stress how he made Hyderabad an IT hub. "In 1977 (when I was relatively young in politics), I heard that Bill Gates is coming to Delhi. I requested the then US ambassador to Delhi to fix an appointment with Gates for me. Gates said that was not possible. I desperately requested for a ten-minute slot. It was then granted. When I went inside, we talked for full 45 minutes about my vision. I made only one request: I asked him to open a Microsoft centre in Hyderabad. To which he said, he would consider the request, in due course. This was the beginning of Hyderabad's journey to an IT-hub," said Niadu, to a thunderous applause, including from the foreign dignitaries.
Naidu is displaying the same missionary zeal, in attracting a fresh round of investments for his new state. "I request all of you to sign at least one MoU each. Then you can move backward and decide which project to work on," he told the amused delegates.
"(State's new capital) Amravathy is yet to be built, but I would request you to book your offices there, for, it's going to be one of the world's Top Ten cities," was his another gem, to which M Venkaiah Naidu said that the Centre is actively considering his plea for granting smart city status to Amravathy.
For every reform measure that the Centre is proposing, Naidu is showing how to move one step ahead.
The Digital India project may be called ambitious by some, but Naidu is already showing how to take broadband and video-conferencing to every home in his state. "I will ensure that 10-15 MBPS Net speed is available to everyone in my state with unlimited bandwidth by June," he said.
The Centre may still be mulling over the ambitious interlinking of rivers, Naidu said he had made it possible to link the Godavari with the Krishna "in just six months".
The Centre may be making plans regarding "power for all" or "housing for all" by 2022, but Naidu is thinking decades ahead, and wants to see Andhra as the "world's most-preferred destination" by 2050.
The Centre may have tied itself in knots over the land bill, but Naidu said that his single call to the state's farmers resulted in them giving away 33,000 acres of land, over which the new capital city of Amravathy would be built.
The Centre may be talking about the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, and here too Naidu is taking the lead by making operational three waste to energy units in the next one and a half years.
It's not that the unabashed reformer has not learnt his lessons. A candid Naidu on Monday admitted that in his earlier avatar "he didn't focus enough on welfare schemes, a reason why he lost the elections". He said "sustainable-responsible-inclusive development / growth" is his mantra now.
To say that under PM Modi, Indian states believe in competitive federalism is one thing. To make optimal utilization of the political wisdom available here is quite another. Maybe it's time the BJP made Naidu the convener of the political alliance, NDA, at the central level so that his pro-active, pro-growth, pro-people schemes benefit the people at large and the Centre in equal measure.
BW Reporters
Suman K Jha was the deputy editor with BW Businessworld
