RAMESH KANDULA
maverick messiah
A Political Biography of N.T. Rama Rao
Contents
For my wife, Vijaya Lakshmi, and daughter, Manasa
Foreword
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (192396) was not just a film star who challenged the mighty Indira Gandhi and knocked out the one-party rule in Andhra Pradesh (AP). Elected thrice as the chief minister of united AP, the actor-politician redefined the political culture in the region and scripted a new political idiom.
His subnationalism was constructive, and his identity politics was devoid of parochial undertones. His brand of regionalism celebrated the pluralistic idea of India. A patriot to the core, NTR proudly wore his Teluguness on his saffron sleeve, but without privileging it over other identities.
An outsider to the political establishment, NTR displayed an instinct for political mobilization. The way politics was played in AP underwent a profound change after NTRs arrival on the scene. Power, in NTRs case, was truly drawn from the people.
However, his rather dramatic entry into politics, the profound impact he left on the people of AP and the vital role he played in national politics during his relatively short political life have not received deserving recognition. His fight for strengthening the federal character of our Constitution and the emphasis he laid on the welfare role of the governments remain relevant in todays India when regional aspirations are on the rise, and crony capitalism is in command.
This first comprehensive political biography of NTR is an attempt to provide a 360-degree view of the most charismatic personality that the political churn in the country produced in the second wave of regionalism of the 1980s.
NTR was a man of fascinating contradictions. He was a commanding personality but resorted to baffling theatrics and bewildering sartorial predilections. He was considered orthodox by many, but he displayed radical tendencies that caused a furore in the establishment. Though outwardly religious, he was staunchly secular. A leader who fought on the plank of regional aspirations, he remained a committed nationalist throughout. A man of no known ideological persuasion, he was able to come up with his own brand of populism and a clearly enunciated doctrine on Centrestate relations.
A fighter to the core, NTR liked to punch above his weight. His contribution to the Opposition unity at the national level was a pioneering effort, and NTR would have played a more substantial role as the National Front chairman in the 1990s but for a quirk of fate.
The most colourful personality in the drab world of politics, NTR never ceased to amaze because of his complexities. The element of drama was deeply embedded in his rather momentous life. In his last days, the personal and political got merged in his life in an unusual mix, resulting in a tempestuous climax that has few parallels in modern Indian politics.
Maverick Messiah: A Political Biography of N.T. Rama Rao captures these different facets of NTR in all their multifold hues and puts in perspective the significant contribution of the actor-politician to the ever-changing Indian political tapestry.
Though he played such an important role at the regional and national level, NTRs political life, surprisingly, did not receive the attention it deserved as is evident from the dearth of informed works on him. Except for the first authentic biography written a year after he entered politics by S. Venkat Narayan, there has not been a serious book on NTRs politics. Narayans slim volume continues to be the only authentic work on NTRs early life and times. His tenure as the chief minister, his path-breaking initiatives, the controversies that surrounded him, his bold foray into national politics and the rather dramatic end to his political career and life remained unexplored. Some sketchy accounts of NTRs life, academic articles on his electoral victories and some discussions of his policies are available, but an exhaustive narrative or an analytical chronicle of his rather eventful political career in its entirety has been sorely missing.
This book is intended to fill such a void. However, it was not my intention to come up with a hagiography of NTR. In this book, I tried not only to recount and recreate the historic role NTR played in his rather brief political career but also attempted to provide an objective analysis of his politics, its relevance and its impact. NTR was a volatile politician with a strong political personality, and it would be puerile to present him without his glaring faults, warts and all.
My personal interactions with NTR were not too many, but I followed his political life closely as a journalist since 1986. I covered many of his press conferences and interviewed him while he was in the Opposition. I had the opportunity to speak to him regularly at the fag end of his life after he was toppled as chief minister. I met him even on the last day of his life, and he spoke about his future political plans. By the time my report appeared in newspapers, he was no more. I was one of those who witnessed this rather grim period of his life from close quarters.
In writing this biography, I have chosen a style that is neither too pedantic nor too dramatic. NTRs political life broadly falls into five partshis stunning entry, the unexpected toppling, dramatic resurrection, devastating defeat and his triumphant comeback which culminated in a catastrophic finale. I have broken them down into five acts, reflecting the theatrical nature of NTRs political life. While maintaining the historicity and authenticity, I have tried to tell the story of NTR through an engaging account. I have incorporated various viewsboth academic and non-academicto understand NTRs politics in a broader perspective.
It is my wish that NTR is restored to his rightful place in the countrys political history. If this biography can serve this end, I consider my effort fulfilling.
Ramesh Kandula
Hyderabad
Act I
A Thriller Unfolds
The warm winter sun was losing its burnished glow behind the seven peaks of Tirumala. The temple town of Tirupati, nestled in the foothills of the Eastern Ghats, had just drawn curtains over one of the most dramatic election campaigns in the history of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the countrys most powerful and popular leader, had wound up her exhausting election tour moments ago. After concluding her last speech at the municipal school grounds in the midsized town, a tired Indira slumped into the back seat of her car. She sank into deep thought as the VVIP cavalcade whizzed through. This was the last day of her blistering roadshow across the length and breadth of the state that had always been on her side.
It was not the first time that the entire burden of leading the party to victory rested solely on her capable shoulders. But the assembly polls of January 1983 unexpectedly turned out to be a litmus test for her political pull and personal charisma.
AP had been the Congresss favourite state in general and Indiras in particular. No other party had come anywhere near capturing power here since Independence. It was the reason why she had stood like a rock during 196971 when two successive separatist movementsSeparate Telangana and Jai Andhrahad rattled the state. AP was the countrys fifth largest state with a population of nearly 56 million at this time. She did not want such a large state that had been continuously returning her party to power to be torn into two. She was especially mindful that AP had come to her rescue when she needed it the most. When the entire country rejected her in the 1977 elections, AP won her party forty-one out of the states forty-two Parliament seats, with an astonishing 57.4 per cent of votes. After the veteran leader touched her lowest political ebb post-Emergency, it was AP that secured her political comeback. Her newly founded Congress (Indira) Party formed the state government in 1978 on the freshly issued hand symbol. The resounding victory in AP when she was out in the cold in Delhi boosted her confidence and foretold her imminent return to power at the Centre.
