Chandra Babu Naidu turns 72: Know interesting facts about former Andhra Pradesh CM

Nara Chandrababu Naidu was born on April 20, 1950, in Naravaripalli, Andhra Pradesh is an Indian politician, the President of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh (1995–2004 and 2014–19). He is currently the leader of the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Naidu is one of the senior leaders in India with 40 years of vast experience in politics.

Naidu emphasised the use of information technology (IT) and was instrumental in making Hyderabad one of the IT hubs in India, earning praise from global leaders and media for his public policies and approach to governance.

Naidu has won several awards, including IT Indian of the Millennium from India Today, Business Person of the Year by The Economic Times, South Asian of the Year from Time Asia and membership in the World Economic Forum's Dream Cabinet. He was honoured with the 'Transformative Chief Minister Award’ in May 2017.

Some interesting facts:

• At the age of 28, Chandra Babu Naidu was elected as the state's youngest assembly member and minister.

• The Telugu Desam Party, led by Naidu, won a majority in the state legislature by securing 185 of 294 seats in the Assembly and 29 of 42 in the 1999 general election, making it the second-largest party in the BJP-led NDA coalition government.

• In 2003 he escaped an assassination attempt during a land-mine blast. He suffered lacerations to his collarbone and hairline fractures.

• He founded Heritage Group in 1992 which has become one of the largest private-sector dairy enterprises in Southern India.

• During this tenure, Naidu inaugurated the Godavari–Krishna river interlink in September 2015. The project entered the Limca Book of Records as the "first and fastest such irrigation project in the country to be completed in time, without any budget enhancements".

(with sources inputs)

Published on: Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 05:59 PM IST