CHANDRA BABU NAIDU AMBITIOUS TO REPLACE MODI AS PRIME MINISTER ?
NEW DELHI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandra Babu Naidu, who is also the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, is ambitious to become the prime minister after Narendra Modi and he sees in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat fulfilling his ambition as he can use his authority to order Modi to retire since he has become 75, the age limit he fixed for other seniors like Lal Krishna Advani to retire from politics.
Naidu’s proximity to Bhagwat is, therefore, seen as a potentially consequential political development. His recent meeting with Bhagwat in Tirupathi, followed closely by his visit to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, have triggered intense speculation of shifting alignments in both Andhra Pradesh and at the national level.
Naidu is five months elder to Modi and as such he crossed the age of 75 in April as against Modi attaining that age in September. TDP leaders, however, assert that the 75 age limit applies only to the BJP and not to Naidu. For that matter, even Bhagwat is six days elder to Modi as he was born on September 11, 1950.
Political observers see Naidu’s moves as carefully calibrated signals. His public appeal urging the people of Andhra Pradesh to have at least three children has further fueled debate, with critics and analysts alike interpreting it as an attempt to align with the BJP–RSS ideological narrative, particularly on demographic and cultural issues. While Naidu’s party, the TDP, remains formally outside the BJP’s organisational structure, the optics of these gestures are hard to miss.
A senior BJP functionary in Delhi described the emerging equation as a “balancing act” between Bhagwat and Naidu, suggesting that both sides see value in keeping channels open amid internal flux within the saffron camp. According to multiple sources, sections of the BJP’s top brass are unhappy with recent organisational decisions, especially the sudden elevation of a relatively lesser-known Nitin Nabin, a 45-year old Bihar MLA, as the party’s working president without wider consultation.
Significantly, even the RSS was reportedly informed only at the eleventh hour, after the decision had effectively been sealed. These developments have added to murmurs of disquiet within the BJP about leadership succession. With debates quietly underway about the party’s future course and the question of who could eventually replace Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Naidu’s name has begun to surface in informal conversations — at least as a hypothetical option.
Sources close to Naidu say he is closely watching the churn within the BJP–RSS ecosystem. “All options are open,” said one associate, adding that Naidu would not shy away from a larger national role if circumstances align. Some BJP insiders even speculate—though cautiously—that in a scenario where the party seeks a transitional or consensus figure, Naidu could be considered as a stopgap prime ministerial choice to help the BJP strengthen its footprint in southern India.
For now, there remain informed conjectures rather than concrete plans. Yet, in politics, perceptions often precede reality. Naidu’s renewed outreach to the RSS, combined with visible unease within the BJP, has ensured that the Andhra leader is once again part of the national conversation, this time, with implications that stretch well beyond his home state.
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