Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy landed almost at the same time in Zurich, as if by an act of providence, en route to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting.
Published Jan 21, 2025 | 11:54 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 21, 2025 | 11:54 AM
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Davos. (X)
The master and the disciple have bumped into each other in the Swiss Alps. Even though they are neighbours in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, they rarely meet on Indian soil.
However, both of them — Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy — landed almost at the same time in Zurich on Monday, 20 January, as if by an act of providence, en route to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting.
The two leaders seemed to have had an emotional reunion, even though not reminiscent of the gush of emotions in Salman Khan in Bharat when he saw his sister on TV.
Naidu was leading a team of his son and Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh, and Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu while Revanth Reddy was accompanied by Telangana Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu.
As soon as the two delegations met, an unusual camaraderie broke out. As if awash with memories of the past when he was the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, Naidu pulled Sridhar Babu close to him and even had his arm around the Telangana Minister’s shoulder as Revanth Reddy looked on, probably with a twinge of jealousy.
Both Revanth Reddy and Naidu discussed way ahead in their respective states though briefly. Both Naidu and Revanth Reddy seem to have forgotten for a brief while that they represent parties that are at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
As if their personal interaction was not enough, Revanth, in deference to his guru, later said in a message on X: “A serendipitous meeting with Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister @ncbn garu at #Zurich airport waiting lounge today had us discuss the future of our two Telugu states. In a brief but mutually respectful discussion, we both shared our audacious visions for our respective state.”
Chandrababu Naidu, in response to Revanth Reddy’s plan for Telangana, said on the same platform that: Two States, One Spirit – Telugu Community Must Shine Globally. It was a pleasure to meet you, Hon’ble CM @revanth_anumula Garu.”
Two States, One Spirit – Telugu Community Must Shine Globally.
It was a pleasure to meet you, Hon’ble CM @revanth_anumula Garu. #WEF25 https://t.co/zCzfYWqu97— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) January 20, 2025
Then they went their own ways, to reach Davos. Naidu, having put his best foot forward on Swiss soil at Zurich, had an interaction with the Telugu diaspora, where he did not forget the subject that is very close to his heart — population push.
He said that he was happy to see the Telugu population in 12 different countries in Europe gathered in Zurich to see him, which he said was a refreshing development since in his previous visits, he found that their population was very sparse.
Naidu said he was happy that Telugus were getting opportunities in Europe, which is ageing, meaning the number of the aged in Europe is more vis-a-vis Telugus arriving there.
For over the last seven to eight years, Naidu has been advocating a push for an increase in population to offset the demographic imbalance that is creeping in surreptitiously.
The imbalance is skewed towards the population of the aged, making younger blood scarce. Before leaving for Zurich, he said in Andhra Pradesh that he was even contemplating bringing in legislation to make it mandatory for one to have more than two children to become eligible to contest in elections.
He had already annulled the legislation that restricts the number of children to two for those who want to contest in local body and municipal elections in the state.
Winter, Zurich and the Alps seem to be a deadly cocktail for spurring new ideas for the advancement of the two Telugu states. Revanth and Naidu, you are doing good. Keep going.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
