KSR Column: Failures Far Outweigh Successes In Chandrababu’s 3-years Report Card

Completion of three years of Chandrababu Naidu rule is a happy occasion for the TDP. But, its brow is furrowed in worry as it has just two more years and they would roll by in a jiffy.

The three-year balance sheet of Chandrababu Naidu Government is no cause for flamboyant celebrations as minuses outnumber plusses and failures far outweigh successes. Everyone is baffled at Babu's blabber of staying in power till 2050 as winning the next election itself looks uncertain. In fact, no clan or party can be sure of being in power till eternity in a democracy and no one knows it better than Chandrababu himself.

If he wants his family to be in power for a long time, he should put in place people-friendly measures and win over the people. But, there seems to be no introspection whatsoever within his party. Yes! He did hike the welfare pensions to Rs 1000, but the TDP worthies at the ground level are giving torrid time to beneficiaries in getting them released. Chandrababu has also virtually razed democratic conventions to ground by bringing in Janmabhoomi committees. This one step has hit the local bodies and their autonomy the hardest. His over-zealousness to ensure that every benefit is passed on only to the TDP acolytes is actually proving counterproductive and the anger is building up among the common man.

In his earlier stint in Sachivalaya, his disdain for big projects like Polavaram was public knowledge. But, the project made some progress during YS Rajasekhara Reddy regime. Post-bifurcation, Polavaram has been declared a national project. But, for some strange reason best known to it, the state government took up the responsibility of constructing the project instead of the Centre doing it. This is giving rise to suspicion that all this is aimed at garnering kickbacks and at benefiting some favoured contractors. In the case of Kapu reservations too, the Government did not make any move till Mudragada launched his protest. But the Government dilly dallied as it felt that according reservations to Kapus would help Mudragada take the credit and that the ruling dispensation will be left with the infamy of insulting Kapu patriarch's family. Moments after Tuni train burning, the CM himself blamed YSRCP post haste, but when it came to action, Kapu leaders from East Godavari were arrested. Even they had to be released soon. All these shows the confusion in the Government ranks.

On the issue of the capital city construction too, there is utter confusion. The way the Government is dealing with the farmers of the Capital region, will only prove counterproductive. Initially, he did win their confidence, but soon it dissipated. Talking ad nauseum about the capital is now making the people impatient. The way he flip-flopped and somersaulted on the issue of special status has deeply hurt the Telugus. The issue is one of sentiment for the Telugus and the sooner the Government realises this the better.

The government has also utterly failed in fixing the blame and initiating action against those responsible for the stampede on the inaugural day of Godavari pushakarams. Also, Chandrababu has the dubious distinction of having 7-8 camp offices and huge amounts are being spent on their maintenance. For the first ever time, a government has garnered infamy for spending crores on lifts.

Compared to his earlier 9-year-stint, Chandrababu this time is faltering and failing more than ever. His fetish for publicity and the infamous ''cash for votes'' scam are proving to be his undoing. But, by far the biggest black mark is the common man's criticism that he is lying through his teeth at the drop of the hat.