The chief ministership of N. Chandrababu Naidu began on 1 September 1995 and ended on 11 October 1999, making him the 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Naidu was sworn in by the then governor, Krishan Kant. Naidu's second term started on 11 October 1999 to end on 13 May 2004, sworn in by the then governor, C. Rangarajan. After a decade, Naidu's third term commenced on 8 June 2014 and ended on 29 May 2019, during which he served as the chief minister of the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, sworn in by the then governor, E. S. L. Narasimhan. He is currently serving his fourth term as the chief minister, sworn in by the current governor, Syed Abdul Nazeer on 12 June 2024.
The chief ministership of Naidu during the three terms focused on the Information-technology, innovation and bio-technology sectors paving way to economic reforms and liberalisation rather than welfare oriented governance along with slightest focus on agriculture and irrigation emphasizing the integration of technology and agriculture in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Government formation
On 1 September 1995, Naidu took over as Chief Minister, and stayed the chief of Telugu Desam Party after a political coup against his father in law N. T. Rama Rao. He formed his first government with a 11-member cabinet along with the support of nearly 150 MLAs'. Later in the year 1999 Naidu the formed the government again by sweeping the polls with 180 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. A 9-member cabinet was initially constituted and later expanded it 35 by inducting another 26 ministers into the cabinet. In the subsequent 2004 and 2009 elections, Naidu's led TDP lost decisively restricting itself to 47 and 92 seats respectively and served as the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Later with the bifurcation of United Andhra Pradesh into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Naidu sworn in as the chief minister of newly bifurcated Andhra Pradesh making it to the formation of his third government after 10 years in opposition. He formed a cabinet of 19 members and reshuffled twice in 2017 and 2018. In the subsequent 2019 election, Naidu's led TDP once again lost power and restricted itself to the opposition by winning only 23 seats. In 2024, Naidu formed the government for the fourth time after being sworn in as Chief Minister on 12 June 2024, following a massive victory in the 2024 polls. The government was established with a cabinet comprising 24 ministers, excluding the Chief Minister himself.
Legislations
Notable legislations enacted during Naidu's tenure includes: Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act, 2000 for the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes in the state, which was subsequently deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India. Single Windows Act, 2002 to establish a robust single-window system for processing industrial approvals. Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014 for the establishment of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority. Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act, 2018 based on the recommendations of the BRAP 2017 report, to enhance industry friendliness and ensure efficient public service.
Economic policies Investment policy During Naidu's tenure, The Andhra Pradesh government aimed to attract $2 billion of investments and create about 100,000 jobs in the information technology (IT) sector. His government defined the goals in the CII summit and the Infrastructure Mission.
In way of investments and attractive incentives, the Naidu government won the honour of best tourism performing state with about 24% in all national tourist arrivals, record international aircraft movements, and occupancy raised by 100% in the same year. The state government decided to treat the tourism policy similar to that of industrial ventures to attract foreign tourists. This led to employment generation direct and indirectly for 37.7 lakhs people raised by 12% in the hotel and hospitality industry, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, cabs and transportation, travel trade and booking services and bagged 6 tourism awards for excellence out of 14 categories at the national level.
Ease of doing business The newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh had been ranked as the easiest Indian state to do business in for the two consecutive years in a survey released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of Commerce and Industry. And Andhra Pradesh is the only state to be ranked, at 51, in the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Forum, where India's rank was 56. Andhra Pradesh also ranked top in the Ease of Doing Business according to team of researchers led by Tan Khee Giap, co-director of Asia Competitiveness Institute. Tan recognised chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's leadership and relentless efforts in shaping a vision for the new sunrise state of Andhra Pradesh.
Other Naidu headed the chief ministers' committee on digital payments during the time when TDP was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. During his tenure he submitted an interim report to the Government of India on the issue of banks and financial institutions making digital transactions costlier by levying unwarranted charges and have sought its intervention to subsidise the digital transactions, so that banks and financial institutions are not burdened and the citizens find digital transactions attractive.
E-governance
e-Seva With the attempt to take the benefits of e-governance to the citizens, Naidu launched e-Seva centers in 2001 for paperless and speedy delivery of results to applicants. These e-Seva centers served the purpose of one-stop solution providing all government information and services online such as utility bills, banking services, issuing birth and death certificates, written test for drivers licence, government orders, and APSRTC tours and travel operators booking. The government introduced an outsourcing employee system where government-related services are done under a contract agreement and after a certain period of time, the employees are granted the status of permanent government employees.
Real Time Governance Society
Real Time Governance Society is an Indian e-governance initiative of chief minister Naidu. It was formed on 6 September 2017. The department reports to the chief minister. The idea is to use electronic communication and technology to deploy e-governance in Andhra Pradesh. It has 13 district centers and 1 state center for reporting. Data from Andhra Pradesh Weather Forecasting and Early Warning Research Center, drones, machine learning systems, biometric systems and other surveillance systems are collated and reported through the RTGS system in real-time. A call center addresses internal grievances.
Initiatives Janmabhoomi (Birthplace) Naidu launched the Janmabhoomi programme in February 1996. The main aim was to involve people in the reconstruction and revitalisation of the society. The programme works at a micro level, planning to identify people-represented problems through Gram Sabha discussions by regional officers, especially in villages, and to send project proposals for the government to work on. The core concentrated areas are community work, primary school education, drinking water, health and hospitals, family welfare, and environmental protection through watershed and joint forest management activities. The programme was subsequently continued during his third term.
From 1997 onward, the 'Clean and Green Campaign' was initiated where school students and teachers participated in institutional and household plantation with government employees. A total of 46 million trees in the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state were planted. About 3,906,835 people participated in sanitation work, with 1,438,850 persons engaged to remove garbage and 40,921,447 people participated in health awareness rallies. The Naidu idea was to make every habitation and municipal ward 'clean and green' and it was one of the largest and most successful events organised by his government.
Self Help Groups Naidu's government started the "self help groups" (SHG) such as water user associations, Vanasamrakshana Samities, Rythu Mithra Groups, CMEY Groups, School Education Committees, and promoted the 'Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas' (DWCRA) where each group had 15-20 female members and chose a leader who conducted group meetings. The main purpose was to offer microfinance through government and bank-linkage that would help rural women to start income generating activities, know about their rights, and the importance of education. The Naidu government distributed two lakh (two-hundred-thousand) bicycles to the girls who joined the government high schools as part of women empowerment initiative.
Prajalato Mukhyamantri (Dial your Chief minister) Prajalato Mukhyamantri a phone-in initiative is a programme that encourages open dialogue between the chief minister and the common people of Andhra Pradesh state. There is a live broadcast every Monday, on both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) where Naidu interacts with the callers directly to know their issues and address them. The live show is conducted in two sessions: in the first session, there is a discussion with vice-chancellors, academics, and writers and in the second session, there is interaction with the people. Naidu was described as "a leader, who mingled with the masses after shedding his official status and time as Chief Minister." The innovative program found acceptance in the country's information and broadcasting systems.
Rythu Bazaar (Farmers Market)
Rythu Bazaar was launched by Naidu on 26 January 1999 with the objective to control the skyrocketing prices of fruits and vegetables. Under this program, farmers were encouraged to sell their produce directly to the consumers and in the process, eliminate the middleman. In the first phase itself, the program succeeded and reached various towns. Prices were down by 70 to 75 percent, and it benefited both the farmers and the direct consumers.
Anna Canteen
During his tenure the government also started the Anna Canteen initiative in various parts of the state to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner at ₹5 each. Naidu launched the programme by inaugurated a canteen in Vijayawada on 11 July 2018. A total of 60 Canteens were opened in the first phase across the state. The Akshaya Patra Foundation was contracted to run these canteens.
Infrastructure HITEC City In November 1998, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then prime minister of India and Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the HITEC City (nickanamed Cyberabad) by opening the Cyber Towers, a landmark building in Hyderabad. In anticipation of the growth of technology in the future, his government also concentrated on providing infrastructure such as roads, safety and resilience, transportation, telecommunications, IT parks and five-star hotels for the delegates' meetings and accommodation and the HITEX International Convention and Exhibition Center.