Win one, win both The triumph of Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh is a reward for the almost perfect balancing act he managed to carry out. With his eyes on a sizeable World Bank loan for his state, he knew he had to go for reforms. But beginning the reforms process was not easy, hamstrung as he was by an almost empty treasury bequeathed him by his predecessor, N.T. Rama Rao, and his populist policies. Reversing those policies ? prohibition, rice subsidy, power subsidy for for farmers and partially free power for the urban poor ? could not have made him popular. Add to this his fondness for information technology and inclination towards infrastructure privatization, and Mr Naidu could easily have been damned as a pro-rich politician. But he played carefully. He targeted important rural groups, farmers, women and children, in programmes like the water users association, Janmabhoomi and Deepam. These programmes benefitted the targeted groups directly while giving them a sense of having a say in their own lives. Some, like Deepam, the gas cylinder distribution programme, offered a one time subsidy. That the Congress got it stalled by the Election Commission actually helped Mr Naidu to collect the votes of hopeful women. He has managed an upward revision of the power tariff and has won in spite of the Congress?s promise of free power to farmers. Quick results and tactful reasoning have helped Mr Naidu convey to the less privileged in the state that the reform process means short term sacrifices for long term gains, and an advanced and progressive state means better lives for everyone. Mr Naidu?s overwhelming victory in the assembly elections is special because this is the first direct popular mandate he has received since he took over as chief minister. The Telugu Desam Party?s dominance in the Lok Sabha polls has resulted from a difference of only 6.86 per cent of votes polled between the TDP-Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. Now, with 29 members of parliament, Mr Naidu is a crucial supporter of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee?s government, although the TDP will not join the Centre. Mr Naidu has decided this at the cost of the discontent of a few senior TDP leaders. For one, he and his team must concentrate on state matters. If anything goes wrong in his ambitious plans, he is in a position to ask for financial help from the Centre. Besides, his views on policies and action will carry greater weight if the TDP remains outside the government. The National Democratic Alliance will need to please him to stay in place. And he might also act as an external check on the BJP?s tendency to please its Hindutva minded brethren from time to time. Development, it seems, can be popular, if there is a Mr Naidu to push the sugared pill.