Demonetisation is good for the country: Chandrababu Naidu at #SouthConclave17

He’s known as the original “CEO-politician” and has been a proponent of digital revolution since the '90s. He’s the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and by his own account, someone who was offered the post of PM not once but twice. Meet Chandrababu Naidu, who said at India Today’s #SouthConclave17 in Chennai that “demonetisation is good for the country” and that PM Narendra Modi is absolutely correct in pushing for cashless economy.

On Day 2 of the conclave, at the “Great Digital Leap: Andhra Pradesh” session, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu not only said that he would make Andhra corruption-free and technologically advanced – “a model state in all aspects”- in no time, but also emphasised the importance of technology in steering ahead an economy as gargantuan as India’s.

Though he said he would prefer to be addressed as the “elected chief minister of his state and the protector of the rights and welfare of the people of Andhra Pradesh”, he mentioned that Andhra was not dealing with any cash crunch as over 34 per cent of the population had adopted digital currency in just two months and it would be reaching 60 per cent till March.

On demonetisation

Chandrababu Naidu said: “I strongly believe that demonetisation is good for the country. In my state, there is no cash crunch. 90 per cent of people support the move, only five to 10 per cent oppose it.”

This emphatic praise of demonetisation, which has been panned across the board for its grossly negligent implementation and being an ill-thought out scheme, however, can be traced to CM Naidu’s predilection towards digital economy, which he had been advocating since the late '90s.

CM Naidu is responsible for turning Hyderabad into a tech-paradise, and the performance of Andhra Pradesh on various social justice indicators, and it’s little surprise that he has come out in strong support of the demonetisation drive.

On economic growth

“I am confident that India will be number two in the world or three in economic size by 2030”, Naidu declared. This is in keeping with IMF predictions that by 2050, India would surpass the US economy to become the second largest in the world after China, which will be the biggest.

It is obvious that CM Naidu is betting big on India’s growth story, which seems to have been on an upward trajectory, despite the backward pull of demonetisation in the short term.

On Amaravati

The proposed new capital of Andhra Pradesh – Amaravati – is the dream city that will be testing both smart technology, urban planning as well as green technology, such as the use of solar panels, water conservation and harvesting, electricity conservation, et al.

“I will build a bigger, better city than Hyderabad. Amaravati, the Andhra Pradesh capital, will be the best city in India”, Naidu declared. Given that he has mostly delivered on his promises of development, this too looks likely in a span of five to ten years.

“Water grid, world-class capital city Amaravati and human resource development are the three top priorities,” he mentioned.

Moreover, we also learned that Baahubali director SS Rajamouli had been approached by the Naidu government to help with the design and architecture of the planned city, particularly in its ability to portray the history and culture of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu-speaking people. It is obvious that Naidu is more than ambitious to build Amaravati as an epic, planned city.

On corruption

“Everybody, be it media, politicians or businessmen should come together to build a clean, corruption-free India,” CM Naidu said. This is also commensurate with PM Modi’s drive to cleanse India of black money and end corruption, the biggest reasons provided to pitch demonetisation.

On Brand India

“People are talking about India across the world now. This didn’t happen in the last 50-60 years”, he said.

On Centre-Andhra relationship

“Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley fought on behalf of Andhra Pradesh pushing for a special package”, Naidu said, underlining the relatively better terms that his state shares with the Centre. This is also in line with most of the governance agendas that Naidu shares with PM Modi, be it the push towards digitisation, emphasis on technology to catapult economic growth and use of smart/green technology to bring about better and cleaner urban centres.

“Ideas sometimes may differ, but overall we should work towards betterment of the country”, he said, echoing the Centre’s line of extended cooperation between the state and the Union government.

On Vajpayee and Modi

“We should not compare Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Modi”, Naidu said, drawing a clear line between the past and the present of the BJP.

On himself

“People should remember me forever. I will make Andhra Pradesh a model state”, he signed off.