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Writing on the wall is clear, for so long!
- Mr. Ramakrishna Prasad Iriventi

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It’s a stunning victory for the Congress (I) in the country. In Andhra Pradesh it is so huge that neither the losers nor the beneficiaries could predict. However, it should not be treated as a big surprise. The writing on the wall has been quite clear. And it's been there for quite long, at least over a decade. But nobody has seen, hence the quizzical disbelief at the outcome of the hustings both at the state level, and the national level. NDA's new found poetic expression 'India Shining' has failed to evoke the much needed emotions of the people of the country. The propaganda machinery has done the homework wrong. Clearly the people of India have rejected NDA's trump card of projecting Sonia Gandhi being a foreigner. The results establish the fact that the people of the country have accepted Sonia as the 'bahu' of the country. Back home from the perspective of Andhra Pradesh, what does the the humiliating defeat of Telugu Desam Party mean? Babu has gone ahead implementing the World Bank programme unmindful of the implications at the gross root level. The rural economy was completely neglected. The much talked of roads did look with flying colours, but they did not help the farmer to fly with flying colours. The farmer did not need the wide roads to carry his produce to the market, for, there had been no production at all for over four consecutive years. Nor timely aid came in from the government to the crying farmer. Yes, Chandrababu Naidu is not to be blamed for the nature's fury. But surely he has to be blamed squarely for not raising to the occasion to save the dying farmer. Over 3500 farmers committed suicides in the state. There are several other areas from where Babu cannot escape admitting responsibility. Unprecedented unemployment may be natural for a country of the size of India. He may have found it difficult to generate employment. But he has to take responsibility for generating unemployment, at least. Several factories have been closed down making thousands of employees unemployed shooting up the figures for unemployment. Babu relied heavily on the diktats of the World Bank which insisted on doing away with several welfare measures including subsidies in the state. Farming community fell prey to the diktats. In a state which is predominantly agriculture based, Chandrababu Naidu has neglected drinking water and irrigation projects throwing the lives of millions of rural poor into the deep abyss. A lesson to Chandrababu Naidu is a lesson to the World Bank and its apologists. Although the defeated Telugu Desam supremo Chandrababu Naidu maintained till the last minute that his party would stage a definite comeback, it proved the tallest claim ever even to himself long before the first phase of the polls in the state. His over confidence stemmed from the outcome of the pre poll surveys conducted by the agencies commissioned by the party. Deliberately the surveys delivered the goods that only satisfied the customer. Questionable development model It has been stated that Chandrababu Naidu has brought 'development' to the state. TDP government used to state with pride that it spent over 30% of the state's revenue for the development in the state. Presuming that it was true, one tends to ask where did all this money go. Also one cannot escape shooting the inescapable question where did the World Bank assisted Rs 57,000 crore go. TDP government has also received a handsome assistance of Rs 3500 crore during its tenure. Where did this amount go? The simple answer to these seemingly complicated questions is that this money was spent mostly on laying roads, developing Cyberabad et al. But this development only helped the upper layers of the middle class which is aspiring for upward mobility in the society. The techno-savvy Chandrababu Naidu preferred the urban middle class to the marginalised farmer in the rural Andhra Pradesh. And it is not his fault. As discussed earlier, he was only responding to the diktats of the World Bank and the other international financial institutions which presumably instruct, implicitly though, that the recepient of the aid should implement only those programmes that have their approval. It translates that the unproductive sector, which they treat agriculture is, should not receive any direct assistance and that all subsidies, if any, should be withdrawn at the earliest. Chandrababu Naidu has been implementing all that over a period of one decade meticulously. He never took to shy to pronounce that the World Bank is his darling vis-à-vis. And he had to pay the price, a price he could not afford. From 192 seats in the dissolved Assembly, his party could win less than 50, equalant to the number of seats lost by Congress in the current elections. The Congress had contested only 235 seats in a house of 294, and won 186. The defeat of Chandrababu Naidu's rule is long overdue. He ruled the state as an autocrat. It is interesting to note that a Sussex University study titled 'Development risk assessment of Andhra Pradesh', conducted by James Manor, a professor in the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), clearly mentioned of the levels of corruption leading to frustration among the masses. The Professor observed this as part of his study which was aimed at giving a perspective to DFID (Department For International Development, UK) for sanctioning future funding programmes. The outcome of the polls clearly proved that the people of the state have not accepted the model sought to be implemented by Chandrababu Naidu. Chandrababu Naidu began to fight a losing battle on the day he invited the elections due after six months. Soon after the assassination bid on him by the outlawed People's War Naxalites, Babu thought rather brattishly that the then generated sympathy would help him return to power. The history of sympathy wave in India clearly reveals that only that sympathy wave that generates over the deceased leader would help the party he/she represents. It happened in case of Indira Gandhi. And it repeated in case of Rajiv Gandhi too. Babu thought he had three magic wands. · Elimination of Naxalism · Unity of Andhra Pradesh per se Telangana · Development of Andhra Pradesh But all these proved irrelevant at the hustings!

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