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Nara Chandrababu Naidu. A name to conjure with, not only in the politics of his native Andhra Pradesh, but even on the larger proscenium of national polity.

It wasn't always thus, though.

A couple of years back, Naidu was known - in a very limited circle - as the son-in-law of matinee idol turned politico and founder of the Telugu Desam Party, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. And Naidu, along with the rest, appeared quite content to coast along in the shadow of AP's icon.

Then came NTR's marriage to his biographer Lakshmi Sivaparvati. Who, for her part, increasingly began to play a hand in state politics.

TDP leaders cribbed. And, under the cloak of anonymity, criticised Parvati and, by extension, NTR.

But none dared openly challenge the party leader who, conventional wisdom went, was impossible to defeat at the hustings in his home state. Till, that is, Naidu decided to turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Not only did Naidu mastermind, and lead, a successful revolt against his father-in-law which ended with the latter being deposed as state chief minister, but in the May general election, Naidu proved he could lead his faction of the Telugu Desam to electoral victory, even though he was vehemently opposed by Parvati and her faction.

Naidu took the lead in cobbling together the loose confederacy of parties that became known as the United Front, then worked behind the scenes to install, on the prime ministerial seat, that most unlikely of candidates, H D Deve Gowda.

In the process, Naidu earned for himself the mantle of king-maker.

King and king-maker are now apparently at odds. And even as Deve Gowda struggles to weather political storms at the Centre, Naidu is busy fighting a storm of a different sort in his native Andhra Pradesh - the devastating cyclone that has killed over a thousand people, caused damage worth billions of rupees, and set the state's progress back by some years.

Ever since the storm clouds first burst over AP, Naidu has been a busy man, masterminding relief and rescue operations. In between, he found time to fly to the nation's commercial capital, Bombay, on Friday to enlist the aid of the city's businessmen in the task of rebuilding the state.

It is in the midst of this mission that Naidu takes time off to appear on Rediff Chat.