Hyderabad:
Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, the country's richest candidate in these elections, who has declared assets worth Rs 5,785 crore, is outspoken about money and elections and the link between them. He also believes that his status as the richest candidate should not count.
“I don't know why you guys are focusing so much on the money aspect,” Dr Pemmasani told NDTV in an exclusive interview. 'Unfortunately, politics has become an expensive process these days. That's not the change. Actually, we should all discuss it, right? Ordinary people cannot participate in these elections,” he added.
Dr. Pemmasani is the candidate of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, which is back in the NDA after about six years. He is contesting from Guntur, where the party's last candidate also did well.
But two-time MP Galla Jayadev has withdrawn from further contests, citing business commitments and 'trouble' caused by the Andhra Pradesh government and the Centre.
When asked why he decided to get involved, Dr. Pemmasani said it was about giving back to society.
“I don't need to come because I probably have all the comforts anyone could ask for in this world. The reason I came is mainly because I want to give back to society… Once you have that ideology, You can patiently listen to most human problems and solve most of them… As an entrepreneur, you know how to prioritize,” he said.
Dr. Pemmasani graduated from Osmania Medical College and worked for five years at Johns Hopkins University – Sinai Hospital in the US. Back in India, he became an educationist and entrepreneur before deciding to enter politics.
His campaign, he emphasizes, is not negative. “The state has a lot of debt. We don't have any capital that we don't have. We don't have any industry. So we need the support of the central government,” he said.
His party is seeking to restore permissions for the 130 institutions that Mr Naidu had allowed when he was Prime Minister. “Jagan Mohan Reddy has completely canceled all 130,” he said, and therefore these institutes now have to take individual permission when they enter.
“It's a two- to three-year process even to ask… for someone to come and do a project report and build an infrastructure. Creating a job will take two to three years. I'm telling everyone we can't give you that giving A job on the first day is the problem if you choose a government that is not very development-oriented. Normally you lose at least seven to eight years.