We Are Suffering The Pangs Of Bifurcation

N Chandrababu Naidu has got less than two years left in his second spell as chief minister.

- Lalita Iyer

Governing a smaller state and building its new capital, Amaravati, from scratch have not been easy for him. With his bargaining power significantly diminished, he is forced these days to manage with whatever he gets. Naidu had to accept a ‘special package’ for his state instead of the special category status he had asked for.

The opposition, including the Congress and the YSR Congress, is keeping Naidu on his toes. The Congress, which has been in complete disarray, is showing signs of recovery. Making things even more uncomfortable for the chief minister is the emergence of the maverick leader Pawan Kalyan. Younger brother of Telugu superstar and MP Chiranjeevi, Kalyan leads a political party called the Jana Sena although his brother is a Congress leader. Being an actor, Kalyan knows how to work the crowd, and he loves to rake up forgotten issues, like the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the Uddanam region in Srikakulam district. Last month, he brought a team of experts from Harvard University to study the issue. While Kalyan may not be a serious political threat, it will be a folly to underestimate him. He belongs to the influential Kapu community, which accounts for 27 per cent of the state’s population. The Kapus are not happy with Naidu because he has not kept his promise of including them in the list of backward communities.

Moreover, the Telugu Desam Party is not a major force in the northern coastal districts like Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam, which have tradionally been Congress strongholds. The by election in Nandyal in Kurnool district, scheduled on August 23, will probably reveal which way the wind is blowing. In an exclusive interview, Naidu told THE WEEK about the challenges he is facing and his plans to overcome them. Excerpts:

Will you go with the BJP in 2019?