His father-in-law, the late Mr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, was one of the most accomplished film actors of Telugu cinema, who later founded the Telugu Desam Party and was also the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Political career
Mr. Naidu was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1978 from the Chandragiri constituency in Chittoor district. He subsequently became a Minister and held the portfolios of Archives, Cinematography, Technical Education, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Public Libraries and Minor Irrigation between 1980 and 1983. He also served as the Chairman of the State Karshak Parishad, constituted for the first time to look after the welfare of the farming community.He was elected again to the State Legislature from Kuppam constituency of Chittoor district in 1989. He served as Coordinator of the Telugu Desam Party, in which capacity he effectively handled the party's role of main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. His role during this phase both inside the Legislative Assembly and outside was a critical factor for the subsequent success of the party at the hustings.In 1994, he was re-elected to the Assembly from Kuppam constituency with a large majority of 57,000 votes and held the important portfolios of Revenue and Finance. During this tenure Mr. Naidu systematically introduced transparency in Government, thus breaking the tradition of inordinate secrecy in the Finance department.

Chief Ministership
The mantle of leadership fell on the shoulders of Mr. Naidu at a most critical juncture in the State's politics.
Following a popular upsurge in the party, Mr. Naidu was unanimously elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 1 September 1995.Following the elections to the State assembly wherein the Telugu Desam Party led by Mr. Naidu emerged as a winner, he was sworn in on 11 October 1999 as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the second term. He was elected with a majority of more than 65,000 votes.Naidu has a modern outlook to administration. His style of functioning is more akin to that of a CEO rather than a traditional politician. Naidu has a firm conviction that modern technology should be used in the service of the common man. Consequently, he lays great emphasis on the use of modern information technology in Government. He would like the State to be run professionally as an efficient organisation rather than as a bureaucracy saddled with red-tape.





2003 assassination attempt
On October 1, 2003, Naidu survived a land mine blast, which was believed to be part of an assassination attempt, planned by a naxal outfit, Peoples War Group, now known as CPI Maoist. He escaped with a fractured left collared bone and a hairline fracture to two of his right ribs. The incident occurred around 16:00 (IST) when Naidu was travelling in a convoy, heading to the Lord Venkateshwara temple in the Tirumala hills for the annual Brahmotsavam festival..

The explosive material used in the assassination attempt was Gel 90 and was sourced from Wardha. The State Information Technology Minister B. Gopalakrishna Reddy, Telugu Desam legislators R. Rajasekhar Reddy and Ch. Krishnamurthy, as well as the driver Srinivasa Raju, were also injured. After an extensive investigation Naidu's survival was attributed to the armored vehicle in which he was traveling.
 

Tenure and policies
Naidu's chief ministership was characterized by a policy tilt towards urban areas and downgrading of priority for agriculture and rural industry. He adopted a Vision 2020 program designed by McKinsey based on the policies of Augusto Pinochet of Chile, in which he envisaged extraction of user charges from all sections of the population for services such as irrigation, power supply, water, and urban services.


Defeat in 2004
In 1999, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy of the Indian National Congress launched a campaign targeting rural neglect and promised free electricity to farmers. This move backfired, and Telugu Desam's alliance with the BJP, who had just won the Kargil War, won the election.

Telugu Desam lost the elections in 2004 to the Congress party, under Reddy's leadership. The 2004 defeat was attributed to persistent drought that crippled the rural agriculture economy. Naidu's focus on IT has been cited as a factor in his ignoring traditional economic drivers like agriculture.

During his tenure, many non-performing government industries were shut down reducing the wasteful expenditure. The movement for a separate Telangana state played a major role for the party's loss in the Telangana districts. The main reason for his defeat in 2004 was the alliance of the Congress with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) (which has more than a 25% vote base in Telangana), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and other parties. Factors such as anti-incumbency, farmers' suicides, widespread drought, naxalite problems and neglecting rural areas in favour of urban areas are also said to have played some role in the defeat of the Telugu Desam in the 2004 State Assembly elections.

Legislature elections 2009 and prospects
Telugu Desam formed a Grand Alliancewith the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, CPI and CPM for the 2009 Andhra Pradesh elections. Naidu is now hostile to the BJP party and has made common cause with the left-wing parties. In pursuit of his friendship with the Communist parties, Naidu has also changed his stance on Telangana and opposed the Indo-US nuclear agreement.