N Chandrababu Naidu has achieved the distinction of being the longest serving Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, breaking the record of two of his predecessors -- Kasu Brahmananda Reddy and N T Rama Rao.
Naidu, who took over as chief minister on September 1, 1995, has clocked in seven years, seven months and four days in office, setting an all-time record in the state.
Only two of his predecessors had stints extending to more than seven and a half years. Congress stalwart Kasu Brahmananda Reddy was in office for a seven years and seven months at a stretch.
Telugu Desam founder and matinee idol N T Rama Rao, who became the first non-Congress chief minister of the state, logged seven years and six and a half months in office in three different spells.
Three other Congress CMs -- Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Marri Channa Reddy and Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy -- held the post twice, but they had shorter tenures.
Nobody imagined that Naidu would stay in office for a long time after he toppled his father-in-law N T Rama Rao in a party and family coup in 1995 and grabbed power.
The provocation for his revolt was the controversial role of NTR's second wife Lakshmi Parvathi in the Telugu Desam and the state administration as an extra-constitutional authority.
During his record-breaking tenure, Naidu has weathered many a political storm and played a key role in national politics. He successfully led the Telugu Desam in the 1996, 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections.
He retained power in the 1999 assembly polls mainly due to an electoral alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the post-Kargil war euphoria for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Naidu, who twice declined offers to become the prime minister during 1996-97, was instrumental in installing the United Front government under H D Deve Gowda in 1996.
I K Gujral succeeded Deve Gowda in 1997 with the support of Naidu, then the United Front convenor.
After the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, Naidu switched over to the BJP to help form the coalition government under the banner of National Democratic Alliance. He retained the BJP alliance for the 1999 polls to Lok Sabha assembly.
In an interview on the eve of setting his record tenure, Naidu said, "I have four role models: NTR for hard work, Mahatma Gandhi for simplicity and using effective modes of communication, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed and former Chinese Premier Deng Xiao Ping for policy matters."
Naidu also has another role model, Jyoti Basu, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) stalwart who served as West Bengal chief minister for 24 years and set an all-India record.
He joins the ranks of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (West Bengal), Mohanlal Sukhadia (Rajasthan) and Digvijay Singh (Madhya Pradesh) as the longest serving CMs of their respective states.
Naidu is poised to better his own record before the next elections in September 2004.
Naidu is also credited for introducing the second-generation economic reforms, particularly in the public sector and power sector. His government has focused on strengthening basic infrastructure such as roads, irrigation, power and social infrastructure such as schools, colleges and hospitals.
