N Chandrababu Naidu–The mark of a man

His vision 2020 and grandiose plans of eradicating illiteracy and poverty
through IT did not get the mandate to continue. The most-talked-about chief
minister of the country Chandrababu Naidu fondly called CBN by the CEOs he
hobnobbed with, was ousted after nine years in power. But not before he has
shown how to encash good opportuni-ties–be it in information technology,
biotechnology or sports. The man made his mark with many firsts to his credit, a
legacy of IT infrastructure and examples of good governance in abundance.

Kingmaker N Chandrababu Naidu always had his rivals foxed at his ability to
manipu-late just about anything of consequence to his advantage. He seemed so
invincible that his crushing defeat in the 294-member assembly elections is
difficult to believe even for his rivals. However, the man himself stripped of
pre-election bravado graciously resigned extending support to the new
government.

Beginning with a 25-year plan as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1995–with
a coup that overthrew his father-in-law NTR, Naidu got ousted in nine years.
Andhra was out of patience and resources with state debts totaling to

Rs 57,000 crore. Crippling drou-ghts, suicides by farmers and weavers,
irrigation and power issues dogged the state while the chief minister focused on
IT and projected it as panacea. However, to say that except IT every other
sector went downhill would be unfair to the chief minister whose zeal and broad
vision will bear results though under Congress now.

His legacy

Naidu, 53, has left behind a legacy of good governance and has shown how to
encash good opportunities be it in information technology, biotechnology or
sports. Not even his worst detractors can deny him the many firsts he has to his
credit. His ability to persuade people to invest their time and money in AP
acquired legendary proportions with men like Bill Gates and Bill Clinton coming
over to Hydera-bad on his invitation. He wooed money-bags of the country to set
up world class institutes like ISB and IIIT in the state capital, used IT tools
for govern-ance and rated his ministers on key performance in-dicators.

Naidu’s work on creating the enabling atmosphere for the IT
industry is acknowledged far and wide. As is his under-standing of new age
fields, global economics and ability to spot a good project. The news of his
defeat and the resultant impact on NDA made the stock market register its
biggest crash of 230 points in four years.

Now, the many questions doing the rounds include–Is the
future of IT in Andhra endange-red with his exit? Will the great expectations
from biotechnology materialize with a change of guard? With the man who brought
in new age in Andhra voted out, will it all be the same?

It cannot be and it will not be the same though none of the
development will be derailed. IT from a fast track growth actively supported by
the government will shift to a self-fuelled growth track. Though no government
can say no to foreign investments, Naidu rightfully has the copyright to the
tech-savvy CM image, believe the industry leaders. The Congress lea-der YSR
proclaimed to be the Chief Minister-in-waiting is not even in the running
distance to contend the image.

Though it will be months later when one can assess the impact
of the shift on IT and biotechnology. However, even the industry agrees in
cautious tones that Naidu’s vision was skewed in favour of IT and BT. He was
aiming for the trickle down effect which did not reach the masses in nine years.
And it will still be years before biotech-nology or IT can deliver his promises.
Fact remains that in-between years also have to be lived through.

"Nobody is worried on the count of IT," said
Nasscom regional head Col Ramachan-dran echoing the official state-ment of the
premier industry body which downplays the impact of Naidu’s exit on the
industry. "The IT industry in India has come to acquire a cri-tical mass
that will carry its momentum forward," he said.

"No government would reverse the good policies or say no
to FDI," pointed out SVL Narayan, Head (Marketing and Pre-sales), Nipuna,
Satyam’s BPO division. He believes that focus may shift but nothing in effect
will change for IT. It will be business as usual for the industry. Given that a
number of industry leaders including the Chairman of India’s fourth largest IT
company Satyam Computer Services are currently abroad on business shows that in
the industry there is no nail biting tension accompanying Naidu’s exit.

However, IT and biotech-nology industry is playing wait and
watch. The fate of projects like Hardware IT Park and further support to help
biotechnology industry to take off all hangs for the next four-six months until
the new government clears its stand in fine detail on various policies and
initiatives undertaken by Naidu regime. But the Con-gress’ biggest challenge
lies in containing infighting for the ministerial berths. Only then can the
party ensure a stable government and all around development–the plank on which
it has been elected.

Nandita Singh

Hyderabad (CyberMedia News)