The Hindu Business Line : Exit Naidu

THE OVERWHELMING DEFEAT of the Telugu Desam Party in the Andhra Pradesh Elections 2004 once again demonstrates the disconnect that exists between the traditional notion of good governance and the reality of voter perception at election time. While for many, Mr Chandrababu Naidu epitomised good governance, what with his embracing of information technology in all aspects of public administration with a missionary fervour, it now transpires the average voter in that State was unimpressed. He has refused to be swayed by such glamorous dimensions of progress as software technology parks or flyovers that provide a seamless transit from the city centre to these destinations. The reams of prose in the mainstream press about new administrative initiatives or the laudatory references to growth by the World Bank or even the high profile visits to the State by dignitaries from abroad, have, as it turned out, been a poor substitute for a genuine sense of the `feel good' for the man on the street.

And therein lies the rub. For all the emphasis on reforms in governance, it has not translated into economic prosperity for the local population. The Andhra Pradesh per capita income has grown at an annual rate of four per cent in the last decade or so, lagging clearly behind not just that of Maharashtra and Gujarat, the more advanced economies in the country, but even falling short of the national average. What must be galling for Mr Chandrababu Naidu, who steered the fortunes of the State during this decade, is that in per capita terms, the State still has some catching up to do with its Southern counterparts and, in particular, Tamil Nadu, a State not exactly known for a pro-private investment culture.

Does all this suggest that the average Indian voter is unsparing in his punishment of poor performers? One wished that were indeed so. But, the repeated success of some parties despite the manifest backwardness of their states militates against any such belief. He has often been indulgent towards politicians who seek his vote not on the basis of a good track record or even on the promise of such performance in the future but merely on the strength of some caste or regional affiliations. But the latest mandate could potentially set a new trend. The voter obviously has set some store by promise of a separate Telangana state even if the Congress had couched it in some diplomatic legalese. It seems that while he does not quite believe that politicians in power would be able to rise above narrow partisan considerations in allocating resources for balanced regional development, he seems to have been convinced that the splitting of states would ensure a better devolution of resources.