Naidu shows off 'clean rule'

HYDERABAD: Chandrababu Naidu seems set on hardselling his good governance agenda to the Andhra voter as a shield against the Telengana missiles being fired by his rivals.
Ranged on his side is a likely army of 65 lakh women, success stories in empowerment thanks to a central government scheme that has helped them with credit and savings.
Despite the success of the Dwcra scheme for women, the opposition has been harping on the TDP''s urban bias.Their contention: Development has not touched villages.
They don''t dispute the fact that the government was combating a mega drought, but in the same breath claim Naidu is too focused on peddling the IT dream.
While the state inched up the development scale, the core issues - water, power and farmers'' problems - remained neglected.
Andhra Pradesh is a downstream state and all the rivers that cut through its terrain get water from Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The drought hit these two neighbours as well. The rivers dried up and whatever surplus water used to spill over into AP stopped.
Consequence: Water wars. Much of the saber rattling on this count was between AP and Karnataka, with S M Krishna insisting Karnataka had nothing to spare.
An area of concern has been Telangana. With elections approaching, this is the cause celebre. Telugu Desam says it has floated schemes to pull the Naxalite-infested poorer regions out of the morass. But these will take more time to show results.
Indeed schemes such as Janmabhoomi, where the community identifies a project and the government and the community execute together are unique. They''ve been in action and might be showing some difference.
But corruption has been Naidu''s bane. In many cases, his party cadre has let him down. The CM has been upfront about his problems in Telangana.
He concedes the naxalite problem stops industry from coming into these areas. Naidu says law and order remain the biggest deterrent to the flow of capital to the region. But, for the PW member, underdevelopment remains his key weapon.
He sells his logic of violence on the premise of poverty. Every other day, there''s news of encounters. The opposition calls it a bullet raj and is at the same time accused by the ruling party of being hand in glove with the PW.
The Congress doesn''t give much credence to the CM''s barbs. Arrest us under Pota if you''ve proof of complicity, is what its leaders say. Though none of them support the killings, they blame the TDP for the PW''s run of terror.
"There isn''t any development. Naxalism thrives on situations such as these," says a Congress official.
But Naidu appears unfazed by this battle of words. He has kept his campaign on an even keel, saying good governance is the USP. He hard sells Telugu pride.
His claim: Delhi eats out of his hands. While PCC members queue up outside Sonia Gandhi''s chamber for a minute of her time, world leaders listen to him. The PM spares time for him. Naidu''s punch line: Congressmen are Ghulams of Azad.