Naidu feels threatened as Renuka conquers New Delhi

M S Shanker in Hyderabad

Is Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu sulking these days? Is he upset with the Inder Kumar Gujral government?

That he is terribly annoyed with Renuka Choudhary's elevation as the minister of state for health is evident from Naidu's outbursts at media conferences. He feels that his suggestion that either ''Urvasi'' Sarada or Jayaprada (both film stars) should be inducted into the ministry was ignored by Gujral.

Call it an ''ego'' clash or ''fear of political existence/ eclipse'', the United Front convenor is cribbing. He is quoted as saying, ''The PM should have consulted me before inducting Renuka.'' Later, he backtracked, ''It's the prime minister's prerogative to chose his Cabinet colleagues.''

There are rumours that the chief minister and Choudhary have fallen out. This is sad considering that they have been great admirers of each other. If this was not so, Naidu would not have allowed the gutsy woman to rejoin the party after he replaced N T Rama Rao as the party chief following the August 1995 crisis.

Known for her sharp tongue, the minister never spares anyone. Choudhary's glamour and charisma have impressed former president R Venkatraman so much that he called her the ''Nightingale of Indian politics''. An articulate speaker, she has been the ''darling'' of the media.

After NTR's demise, Choudhary's manipulative and organisation skills played a key role in catapulting Naidu to the centrestage of United Front politics. Naidu now feels threatened by the same qualities and feels she has outlived her utility, it is said. He is reportedly scared of her intimacy with Delhi politicians, which could alter his equation with the national leaders.

That Delhi cares more for her than Naidu is indicated by Gujral's decision. The prime minister's justification is that Choudhary is a senior TDP member besides being a good parliamentarian. Adding insult to the injury was Gujral's decision to strip Naidu's aide S Venugopalachari of an important portfolio like power.

Recovering from the shock, Naidu has been saying that there would be another reshuffle at the Centre, as if to say that he is giving another opportunity to the prime minister to rectify the recent ''mistake''.

Incidentally, NTR was himself annoyed with Choudhary, and expelled her from the party in 1994 for her ''unruly'' behaviour. Though NTR was her mentor, she did not hesitate to question him when he gave too much importance to his second wife Lakshmi Parvati. Ironically, it is this very forthright nature which caught NTR's eye in 1985, when she bashed up Congress minister P Janardhan Reddy. Choudhary was contesting the civic election that year from one of the ward's in Reddy's Khairatabad Assembly constituency. In no time, NTR nominated her to the Rajya Sabha (she was renominated in 1992).