N. Chandrababu Naidu is an Indian politician and current leader of opposition of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He was also the leader of the opposition of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2014. He is also the former Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh serving from 1995 to 2004 and Chief Minister of Andhra from 2014 to 2019. He is the longest Served Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh (9 Years).

He is the National President of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He also served as the convenor of National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He suffered a major political setback in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections by winning only 23 seats out of the 175 assembly segments.

Early Life and Education

Naidu was born on 20 April 1950 at Naravaripalle, Tirupati district in present-day Andhra Pradesh in an agricultural family to Nara Kharjura Naidu and his wife Amanamma. He has a younger brother Nara Ramamurthy Naidu and two younger sisters. Naidu has vitiligo, an autoimmune disease which causes white patches on the skin.

Since his village had no school, Naidu attended primary school in Seshapuram up to class five and the Chandragiri Government High School up to class 10. He completed his B.A. degree in 1972 from Sri Venkateshwara Arts College, Tirupati. He did his master's degree in Economics from Sri Venkateswara University. In 1974, under the guidance of professor Dr. D. L. Narayana he started work on his Ph.D. on the topic of Economic ideas of Professor N. G. Ranga, but did not complete his Ph.D.

Political Career

Indian National Congress

Naidu started his political activities as a students' union leader in Sri Venkateswara University while pursuing his master's degree. In 1975, he joined Indian Youth Congress and became the president for its local chapter in Pulicherla.[7][12] After the emergency was imposed on the country in 1975, he became a close supporter of Sanjay Gandhi.

With the help of N. G. Ranga, Naidu secured a candidacy from the Congress party, under its 20% quota for the youth, and became a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Chandragiri constituency in 1978 at the age 28. He served as a director of Andhra Pradesh Small Scale Industries Development Corporation. Later, he was appointed as the minister for cinematography in T. Anjaiah's government. He became the youngest MLA and the youngest minister, at the age of 28, in Andhra Pradesh at that time. After becoming a minister, he dropped his PhD program.

In 1979, he played a crucial role in electing G. Kuthuhalamma as Chittoor Zilla Parishad chief, against the official Congress candidate. Following this, he was suspended from the party for two months.

As the cinematography minister, Naidu came in contact with N. T. Rama Rao, a popular film star in Telugu cinema. In 1980, he married Bhuvaneswari, Rao's second daughter.

Telugu Desam Party

In 1982, N. T. Rama Rao formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and swept the assembly polls held in 1983. Chandrababu Naidu who was his son-in-law was still in the Congress Party and he even dared contesting against his father-in-law, NTR and Telugu Desam Party. But Naidu lost in the elections as an MLA from Chandragiri Assembly Constituency. Having no choice, he immediately left the Congress Party and joined Telugu Desam Party. He became the Finance and Revenue Minister in N. T. Rama Rao's ministry.

Legislative Career (1989-1995)

In the 1989 assembly election, Naidu contested from Kuppam constituency as a TDP candidate and won by 5,000 votes. INC, however, had regained power in the election so Naidu had to sit in the opposition. Rama Rao appointed him as a coordinator of the TDP, in which capacity he handled the party's role of the main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. His role during this phase, both inside the Legislative Assembly and outside, was a critical factor for the subsequent success of the party.

Naidu won the 1994 elections from Kuppam constituency. He became the Finance and Revenue Minister in N. T. Rama Rao's ministry.

First term as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (1995-1999)

On 1 September 1995, Naidu came to power as the Chief Minister by organising a coup against Rama Rao. In an interview with Reuters, Rama Rao compared himself to Shah Jahan, a 17th-century Mughal emperor who was imprisoned by his son, and predicted that he would gain his revenge against what he called "the backstabbers" in his family, especially his son-in-law and successor, Naidu.

Second term as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (1999-2004)

TDP, led by Naidu, won a majority in the state legislature, with 185 of 294 seats in the Assembly and 29 of 42 seats in the Parliament in the 1999 general election, making it the second-largest party in the BJP-led NDA coalition government.

Business Career

The Heritage Group (HFL) was incorporated by Naidu in 1992. In 1994, HFL went for public issue to raise resources. Currently, the organisation is being led by Nara Brahmani, Naidu's daughter-in-law. Heritage has hundreds of outlets throughout Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and a significant presence in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, NCR-Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh which comprises a solid portion of Naidu's current assets.

Awards and Recognition

1: The then Governor of Illinois, Jim Edgar, created a Naidu day on 24 September 1998 in his honour.
2: Voted IT Indian of the Millennium in a poll by India Today and 20:20 Media.
3: He was named South Asian of the Year in 1999 by Time magazine, USA
4: In 2001, he was described as one of the hidden "Seven working wonders around the world", by Profit, a monthly magazine published by Oracle Corporation, US.
5: Business Person of the Year by Economic Times.
6: Golden Peacock Award for Leadership in Public Service & Economic Transformation - 2017
7: Global Agriculture Policy Leadership Award by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA).
8: The Pune-based organisation, Bharatiya Chatra Sansad, in partnership with MIT School of Governance, honoured him with Aadarsh Mukhyamantri Puraskar (Model CM Award) in its 6th annual session on 30 January 2016.
9: Transformative Chief Minister Award in May 2017 by US-India Business Council (USIBC) at West Coast Summit in the Silicon Valley.