Men that matter

It is decision time once again as Andhra Pradesh goes to poll this summer. In what promises to the most keenly contested elections in the history of the state, welfare agendas are dominating the pollscape like never before. Taking a cue from the populist measures of the ruling congress government every party worth it's salt promising the sky the electorate is faced with a real predicamant. It is raining freebies in Andhra Pradesh literally. In such an atmosphere the voters are left with no option but to fall back on the credibility of the men in charge and their ability to deliver on the promises made. Rajasekahara Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu and Chiranjeevi have emerged as the leading contenders for the coveted post of chief minister. Here is what I think makes them tick.

YS Rajasekhara Reddy
Cudappah’s near eternal choice for three decades, Rajsekhara Reddy was the only crowd puller in the state for the congress at the time when the TDP ruled the roost. The favourite son of the Rayalasema pulled of the impossible in 2004 by overthrowing the N Chandrababu Naidu when nobody gave him a chance. The congress stomped home on the back of his epoch making 1,500 km Padayatra across the state. In fact he went on record saying he would take “political sanyas” if he did not come to power in 2004. Come to power he did by routing the TDP. Five years on the chief minister has definitely made an impact. So successful have been his visionary schemes - Rajiv Arogyasree, Pavala Vaddi and free electricity for farmers - that many states have introduced them. The mega irrigation projects taken up in the ambitious Jalayagnam when completed will surely be a testimony of his legacy for years to come. Going into the elections without an alliance and facing a slew of allegations of corruption, if congress comes back to power in the state it will be a vindication of the vision of the Chief Minister.

N Chandrababu Naidu
A consummate backroom politician pulling the strings in the party founded by his mercurial father-in-law (NTR), Chandrababu Naidu went on to be the super star of Indian politics. Orchestrating a surprise coup over NTR, Chandrababu emerged as the poster boy of Indian politics by transforming Hyderabad into an IT-hub. Such was his popularity that he did that while administering the bitter pill of reform and jutting away from a 50-year diet of populism and socialism. As it turned out, his vision proved to be his undoing as the his popularity took a beating among the farmers as the mounting debts pushed them to commit suicide with no help coming from his govt. However, he seems to have learnt his lessons and has done a 180 degree turn on his reformist agenda. Taking a cue from the congress the Telugu Desam has pulled out all the stops by announcing a slew of freebies. He has also taken a detour from the “Samaikhya Andhra Pradesh” stand to team up with bitter rival KCR in a bid to regain power. He even mended fences with another old foe - the Left to string up the Mahakutami. Surely Naidu is going for broke to salvage his political fortunes.

Chiranjeevi
He is the joker in the pack the dark horse. This matinee idol decided to take the cinematic plunge into politics keeping everybody guessing for months. But it was only going to be a matter of time as he built his image over the years with the highly publicized charity works, the blood bank being the biggest draw. Hailing from the politically marginalized Kapu community Chirajeevi hopes to ride home on the back of their support. He is also huge popular with the youth and has leveraged it with carefully planted support system of fan clubs all across the state. Hoping to do another NTR with his mantra of “social justice,” Chiranjeevi has announced an array of freebies to keep every one happy. Drawing crowds by the hordes where ever he goes, the Praja Rajyam looks good to pull off a few surprises. But if the megastar is to be believed the Praja Rajyam is going to stomp home this elections. It will all depend on how much the people buy into his promise of a change with a capital c. At the moment it looks like an amazing movie script will have to await the people’s verdict.

My take
It looks like Rajasekhara Reddy is head and shoulders above the rest. Feel free to disagree and write in and participate in the debate. Lets play the voting game AP.