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'Naidu is back with empty hands from a business trip to US'

M S Shanker in Hyderabad

Even before the euphoria over Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu's recent fortnight-long ''business visit'' to the United States has ebbed, Opposition parties in the state have dismissed the exercise as a damp squib.

In terms of sheer business bagged for the state, they say, Naidu has returned with ''empty hands'' from the US.

The visit was widely publicised as an endeavour to attract investments to the state. The Opposition parties point out that Naidu has failed to enthuse non-resident Indians into giving him a firm commitment in financial terms.

Naidu himself had admitted as much on his return when he sought to portray his visit as an attempt to study the American experience in various fields and how NRIs succeeded in countries other rather India.

Sources close to the chief minister admit that Rs 5 million upwards was spent on publicity alone. Naidu's publicity managers worked overtime to feed the local media with tonnes of news and information about the visit.

The Opposition now wants to know whether a cash-starved government should have spent millions of rupees on a ''study tour''.

The Congress, for one, recalls that Dr M Chenna Reddy's 1990 US visit was far more successful -- it brought in Rs 10 billion worth of investments.

Criticism is mounting that Naidu used the visit to publicise his government's so-called efforts to turn Andhra Pradesh into a modern and vibrant society, and to promote himself as the young, forward-looking, dynamic and hard-working chief minister.

''Hardworking for what? Is it not to make a fast buck?'' asked local Congress boss Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy..

Naidu's media managers publicised his meeting with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates whom he invited to inaugurate the Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy or HITEC City this month. Gates, however, excused himself saying he is not venturing out till the Sydney Olympics are over.

Interestingly, Tourism Minister Tammineni Sitaram, who was part of the entourage, claims that major deals have been struck. He says the deal for the Rs 42 billion Disney Park was confirmed by Disneyland executive Steve Collins in a tele-conference with the state tourism secretary during the visit.

Opposition parties point out that Naidu's earlier trips to Singapore and Malayia in 1997 too resulted in similar assurances that failed to materialise.

Naidu had then declared that he will transform the state into Asian Tigers like Malaysia. He also said that five memoranda of understanding were signed with Singapore and Malaysia-based companies.

One of them was with the Proton car company of Malaysia. The MoU was for setting up a car plant at Visakhapatnam. Critics say Naidu saw to it that this got abundant coverage in local financial publications.

Proton, it is learnt, has quietly declined the government's invitation. A Malaysian consortium is also said to have withdrawn from the Hyderabad-Tirupati-Madras expressway project and the Hyderabad ring road project.

To Naidu's credit, it must be said that he managed to persuade Indian Airlines to introduce direct bi-weekly flights between Hyderabad and Singapore.

The Opposition parties seem to entertain strange hopes that Naidu's downfall is imminent: they recall that in the past, N T Rama Rao and Chenna Reddy lost power soon after their US visits. ''A visit to the US might prove bad for AP CM,'' a legislator remarked.

As if to prove that his detractors are given to wishful thinking, Naidu chose Thursday, the Vijayadasami -- considered very auspicious, the belief being any move on this day will be successful -- to assert his supremacy in the Telugu Desam Party . He reconstituted his cabinet, adding 13 ministers and dropping four.

In the process he proved that he is as adept at hype as at hush-hush: the ministry reshuffle was kept under wraps till the swearing-in. The exercise was interpreted as a move to appease disgruntled elements in the TDP, what with the elections slated for November/December 1999.

He will not face any threat. He took enough precautions against any possible bloodless coup of the kind he himself engineered against his father-in-law NTR in August 1995. How? Days before he emplaned for the US trip, he encouraged 250-odd out of 294 legislators to visit southeast Asia on, what else, a study tour!