Capital woes for two top politicians of the twin Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad boasts that it is a world-class city but a few monsoon showers are enough to reduce it to a waterlogged city, with craters on the road showing up. Amaravathi is years away from becoming a mirror image of Singapore but teething problems at Velagapudi, the seat of the temporary Secretariat is not leaving Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu amused.
All of the last one week, Telangana’s Municipal Administration minister K T Rama Rao has been Hyderabad-focused. From asking the twitterati to send out-of-the-box solutions to the city’s civic problems to touring different parts of Hyderabad, getting his hands dirty, KTR has set his mind on fixing the 425-year-old city. It isn’t easy as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is responsible for 9100 km of roads and with multiple agencies like Water Works, Telecom etc often working at cross-purposes, it is a free-for-all on Hyderabad’s roads. But if KTR’s push can make the authorities get their act together, KTR will have many Hyderabadis thanking him this monsoon.
Naidu, on the other hand cannot implement his June 27 deadline for Andhra government employees to start working from Velagapudi and rented office space in Vijayawada. The onset of the monsoon meant the surrounding areas of the temporary Secretariat were inundated and slushy. It meant construction material could not be moved easily. It also raised concerns that unless the drainage system is very good, buildings in this fertile land could be in a spot of bother during the monsoon.
In many senses, Naidu and KTR are pretty similar. In terms of attitude and approach. Remember, when Naidu was chief minister between 1995-2004, his surprise visits in different towns and cities, including Hyderabad, were dreaded by municipal officials, given his penchant to take them to task in public. In fact, one of the reasons why Naidu lost in 2004 was because the government babus did not fancy being insulted in front of TV cameras. KTR isn’t making the same mistake. He is making his displeasure known, but sugarcoating it by making everyone part of the solution process, instead of finger pointing at a few officials.
Both Naidu and KTR are also the face of their states in the IT space. If Naidu can be rightly credited with putting Hyderabad on the world IT map, with his aggressive marketing with the likes of Bill Gates, KTR is pushing the envelope in his role as Telangana’s IT minister. Under Naidu, `infant’ Hyderabad tried to take on `big daddy’ Bengaluru. Under KTR, a more mature and smart Hyderabad has realised which sectors to take on Bengaluru in. The Hyderabad footprint for biggies like Microsoft, Apple, Google is a tribute to the efforts by both Naidu and KTR.
Politicians are mostly criticised for their inability to connect to the problems the common man faces but in Naidu and KTR, there are two ministers who have displayed an ability to lead from the front. One may differ from their political positions but as administrators, both are quite an asset.
