N. Chandrababu Naidu

Some Lesser Known Facts About N. Chandrababu Naidu

• N Chandrababu Naidu was born into an agricultural family.

• He became active in student politics as a student union leader at Sri Venkateswara University while pursuing his master’s degree.

  

• In 1974, he enrolled for his PhD on the topic of the Economic ideas of Professor N. G. Ranga under Professor Dr D. L. Narayana but did not continue it as he got active in electoral politics.

• In 1975, he became a supporter of Sanjay Gandhi after the emergency was imposed.

• In 1978, he became the youngest MLA at the age of 28 and a minister at the age of 30 in Andhra Pradesh.

  

• Naidu married the second daughter of actor and filmmaker NT Rama Rao who later became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in January 1983.

• Before marriage, he asked her if she could live in a village in case he did not get elected and agreed to marriage after she replied yes. He did not take any dowry but did ask NTR to conduct a lavish wedding.

  

• In 1992, he formed a dairy enterprise Heritage Foods Limited (HFL) which went public in 1994 and has a significant presence in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. HFL also operates solar & wind power plants at many locations.

  

• He staged a revolt against his father-in-law in 1995, the CM of state then. This was to bring the TDP under his name, and he eventually succeeded.

  

• Naidu became the Chief Minister of the state in September 1995 which he remained till 2004. He emerged as a strong supporter of liberalisation in state policies.

  

• During his reign as CM, Andhra Pradesh became the first state in India to receive a direct World Bank loan for economic restructuring. He regularly attended World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, Switzerland.

• He became famous for hosting then-American President Bill Clinton in Hyderabad in 2000 and Bill Gates in 2002.

  

• Between 1996 and 1998, he served as the convenor for the United Front, a coalition whose government was headed by H.D. Deve Gowda and later I.K. Gujral.

• In 1997, he formed a non-profit organisation named NTR Memorial Trust which works in the fields of education and health.

• In 1999, his party supported the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government formed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

  

• Naidu was offered an honorary professorship by Kellog School of Management in the year 2000.

• On 1 October 2003, the People’s War Group (PWG) carried out a landmine blast on his convoy near Alipiri tollgate in Tirupati while he was going to take part in the annual ritual of Brahmotsavam of Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala.

• 9 out of 17 Claymore mines exploded which caused injuries in his collarbone and hairline fractures in his ribs. Naidu was the first Chief Minister in the country to have been targeted by the ultra-left-wing Naxalites for assassination which claimed him to be a World Bank agent.

  

• The loss in the 2004 assembly elections was believed to be the implementation of Vision 2020 which saw the privatisation of education and health care and the ousting of small farmers so big corporations could farm, just like in Western countries.

• Telugu Desam Party returned to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2014, and Naidu became the first Chief Minister of the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh after Telangana was separated.

  

• In 2014, his party TDP joined the NDA but left NDA in March 2018 over the issue of Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.

• After becoming Andhra Pradesh CM, he developed Amravati as the capital of the state and led Andhra Pradesh to achieve the top position in the World Bank’s Ease of Business rankings in the country. Mega companies like Kia Motors, Isuzu Motors, Pepsi, Mondelez, and Foxconn made their factories in the state during his reign.

• In 2019, TDP was defeated by the YSR Congress Party led by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

• In March 2020, he formed a global think tank Global Forum for Sustainable Transformation (GFST). He serves as the chairman and director of the organisation.

  

• During his time in jail before the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, his wife campaigned for him in the state.

• His party emerged as the single largest party in the 2024 Andhra elections with 112 seats. TDP also became a member of NDA with 16 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

  

• The corporate industry of Andhra Pradesh has fondly named him as the ‘CEO of Andhra Pradesh Inc.’ for developing the IT sector in the state.

• He has often been criticised for not working for the betterment of the agriculture sector of Andhra Pradesh and privatisation of most government organisations.

• Naidu suffers from Vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that causes white patches on the skin.

• He has initiated many forest conservation programs to help increase the forest cover in Andhra Pradesh.
• He wakes up every day at 4 am followed by a yoga session to keep himself fit. At 9 am, he starts his political activities for the whole day followed by going to bed around 9 pm.

  

• In December 2024, a report was published by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in which it was mentioned that he was the wealthiest CM of any state.