I owe it to the people: Naidu

HYDERABAD: “But this is a seat of thorns,’’ said Chandrababu Naidu, even as he allowed a glimmer of satisfaction to show on his face as he spoke about his new status as the state’s longest-serving chief minister, surpassing the record set by K Brahmananda Reddy in 1971.
Naidu said he always believed in the dictum that the people’s appreciation went to leaders who toil for them. Therefore, he did not waste a single minute during his seven-and-a-half years in office nor let his personal likes and dislikes cloud his judgement.
He said he never let himself be distracted by political vendetta against his opponents. “I always had the capacity to work harder and never yielded to temptations and weaknesses,’’ he said.
In an interview with The Times of India, Naidu said it was indeed getting rarer for a politician to be in power for such a long time and added that he was fortunate to have got the reins of power at a much younger age than any of his predecessors.
Brahmananda Reddy served 2,771 days in office and Naidu’s father-in-law N T Rama Rao 2,755 days. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was the state’s other long-serving chief minister, having served for 1,956 days.
Naidu reminisced that he had had to overcome many challenges in achieving the present milestone including the opposition’s constant carping.
“The opposition parties often put impediments in my way, but marched ahead to achieve my goal and treated it all including media criticism as an occupational hazard,’’ Naidu said.
Thanking the people for mandating a long tenure him — which he described a “reasonably good time’’ his life — the chief minister said his main inspiration were the people themselves.
Turning personal, Naidu said he had to sacrifice many things to achieve this distinction. He said he never had full night’s sleep at any time during the last seven years.
Refusing to be compared Brahmananda Reddy and T Rama Rao, he said, “There is no comparison with NTR and Kasu. I had a chance work with NTR and learnt dedication, discipline and commitment from him. have seen Reddy and heard about him. He was very diplomatic.’’
Naidu is happy that brought fame to the state and made it perform better than many others during the contemporary period.
Replying to questions, ruled out any possibility enlarging the Telugu Desam Party’s role on the national scene, as NTR had dreamt. “Regional parties will play major role and the days coalition politics are here stay,’’ Naidu predicted.
He strongly denied that often bypassed his cabinet colleagues but stressed that he had no time for the traditional style of functioning. Naidu