There is no denying that Nara Chandrababu Naidu is a very stubborn person, whose penchant for going about achieving his dreams borders on a compulsive obsession. He has demonstrated this trait on umpteen occasions. As the workaholic Chief minister of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, while he desired to go one up on Jyoti Basu to emerge as the longest serving chief minister (he missed it though), his administration rode on his Vision 2020 roadmap. His dreams of transforming the landscape of Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam became inspirational success stories, though, in hindsight, he paid a heavy price for concentrating too much on these three cities while ignoring the ground-realities in districts and the interiors, a faux pas that was successfully seized by Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, whose subsequent walkathon unseated Naidu from the gaddi.

Not one to sit quietly, and stay away from power for too long, Naidu grabbed an opportunity that came knocking on the doors following the creation of Telangana State. He began his second innings as the Chief Minister of the residual Andhra Pradesh. Establishment of Amaravati as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh has been his dream project. He began the process with firmness, although the opposition derided him and levelled various ‘partisan’ and anti-farmers’ charges against him. He was biding his time, which came in the Assembly elections in which he ousted his bête noire Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. And the Amaravati issue took centre stage, all over again. On that count, May 2 of this year will go down as a red-letter day in the annals of Andhra Pradesh. Quick to bring the capital city issue back to the limelight, Naidu invited his ‘friend’ and alliance partner Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch projects worth Rs 58,000 crore, including relaunching the construction of the greenfield capital Amaravati, after a six-year pause. Naidu wants to ensure that the capital city would emerge as the hub for Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, green energy, clean industry, education and healthcare.

Exhorting Naidu and his team to transform Amaravati and Andhra Pradesh thereby, into a growth engine for a developed India, Modi lent a sentimental touch while stating that the Telugu Desam founder NT Rama Rao accorded priority to the all-round development of the state. There is no doubt that revival of the Amaravati capital city works will herald better days for the state across segments, including growth of economy, providing more jobs and a prosperous future for farmers, who responded overwhelmingly in support when Naidu first sought their lands as part of the acquisition process to create a vibrant Amravati. And he has set a three-year deadline to complete the transformation of Amaravati. As Modi pointed out, “This is the beginning of building Swarna Andhra. These are not just concrete structures but strong foundations for the aspirations of Andhra Pradesh and the vision for a developed India.” Meanwhile, real estate developers are the happiest lot as it will be boom time for players of every magnitude once the revival process is accomplished. People who have seen Naidu’s performances over the decades will not be surprised if he indeed makes Amravati the nation’s pride. After all, he has proven this while developing Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam into global cities that boast of the best of international standards.