Chandrababu Naidu has progressed from ‘Plain Speaking’ to ‘Frankly Speaking’. Naidu now feels that while he played a key role in economic reforms, he failed to ensure equitable distribution of the benefits of privatization.
Interestingly, Chandrababu wrote a book “Plain Speaking” during his hey days in power, wherein he opined that that there were no ‘isms’ in the world anymore except for ‘tourism’. The book dwelt at length the thoughts of Babu on reforms and the benefits it could bring in.
Having lost power twice, Chandrababu is now a changed man. Despite his genuine efforts in streamlining administration and building brand Hyderabad, the TDP chief has now turned into a populist politician.
He has been of late opposing every privatization move and every policy to take forward the reforms. The latest is the proposal of the Centre for allowing FDI in retail sector. Chandrababu, not surprisingly, is bitterly opposing the decision.
In any case, he cannot afford to make his communist friends unhappy at this stage.
But the former ‘CEO’ of AP Inc still nurtures ambitions for a leadership role for the reforms regime. “I want to lead the movement for ensuring that reforms should be implemented in such a way that the poor get all the benefits,” he said on Monday.
Old habits die hard!
