Chandrababu Naidu: All you need to know about TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM

NEW DELHI: Nara Chandrababu Naidu is the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh since it was bifurcated. Prior to that he served as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004.

Naidu is also the national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

During his term as chief minister of the state, Naidu is credited with turning Andhra Pradesh into one of the most prosperous regions in the country. He slashed food subsidies, raised power tariffs, and converted Andhra Pradesh, a rural, impoverished and backward states, into one of the leading IT hubs in the world. During his term as the chief minister, he unveiled Vision 2020 with US consultant McKinsey & Company with low-cost, universal health and education at its core.

In 1999 Lok Sabha polls, Naidu's TDP won 29 of 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh making it the second-largest party in the BJP-led coalition government.

After winning two consecutive terms, the TDP lost the next two

assembly elections

and Naidu served as the leader of opposition in the state assembly.

Naidu is also part of the newly-minted

Mahagathbandhan

alliance forged by several non-BJP regional parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Expecting to come back to power in the state assembly polls, Naidu has been pitching for special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Simultaneous polls will be held in Andhra Pradesh on April 11 for 25 Lok Sabha seats and to elect the new 175-member assembly.