Newsmaker | Math star, coaching centre founder, unlikely politician now in Andhra ‘cheating’ racket

Dr Narayana was born in 1957 in Nellore and went to complete his post-graduation in mathematics (with a gold medal) and earned a PhD in statistics from SV University in Tirupati. He started his first mathematics coaching centre in 1979, starting on a journey that would bring him success and power. In 2004, towards the end of the N Chandrababu Naidu government’s second term, the educationist joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He continued working in the background after the party lost power in the 2004 elections and continued nurturing the Narayana Group.

When the TDP returned to power in 2014, Naidu rewarded Dr Narayana by handing him the crucial portfolio of Municipal Administration and Urban Development. Since he was not an elected member of the House, Dr Narayana became a member of the Legislative Council. The chief minister also appointed the educationist the head of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) that was established to set up Amaravati. He was given a free hand on land acquisition, land pooling, and the project’s planning and execution.

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in 2018 accused him and other TDP leaders of insider trading and purchasing vast tracts of land the cost of which allegedly increased after the region, comprising 29 villages in Guntur and Krishna districts, was declared the Capital. Refuting the allegations, Dr Narayana told The Indian Express at the time, “I am willing to face an inquiry by any investigation agency. We did not indulge in any illegal activity. We are working hard to set up a world-class capital city.”

By then, though he continued as a minister, the educationist had started withdrawing from public life following the death of his 23-year-old son P Nishit in a car crash in May 2017. Nishit was a director in the Narayana Group. “He rarely spoke after his son’s death. He was a changed man, very sad. I think continued as the minister and worked on the Amaravati project because Chandrababu Naidu wanted him to continue,” said a TDP leader.

In 2019, Dr Narayana contested the election from the Nellore City Assembly constituency but lost to the YSRCP’s P Anil Kumar by 1,988 votes. After that, he completely withdrew from public life and oversaw the educational institutions he created along with his daughter. There are more than six lakh students and over 50,000 teachers in the Narayana Group’s institutions in 23 states. The group runs more than 300 schools and junior colleges, and eight professional colleges, including engineering, medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy. They also run coaching academies for civil services, and distance education programmes.

But his time in politics continued to pose problems. In March 2021, the Andhra Pradesh Police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) summoned Dr Narayana for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in land acquisition for the Amaravati project and accusations of insider trading. The AP CID issued the notices to both the former minister and Naidu in a case registered under IPC Section 120 B (conspiracy) and Sections 166, 167 and 217 read with the Prohibition of Assigned Lands Alienation Act of 1977 and the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. The case was registered following allegations that several TDP leaders usurped land allocated to poor and landless beneficiaries, especially those belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. The same month, the AP CID conducted searches at Narayana educational institutions, offices, and the residence of the former minister in Nellore. The case remains under investigation.

Following Dr Narayana’s arrest on Tuesday, TDP general secretary N Lokesh Naidu termed it a “political witch hunt” and alleged that arresting Opposition leaders in false cases had become a norm under the rule of the Y Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government.

But state Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana refuted the allegation and said Dr Narayana had been arrested because he heads the college from which a teacher leaked the question paper. “I had said that apart from government teachers, educational institutions such as Narayana, Chaitanya, and Kerala English Medium School that were allegedly involved in leaking question papers would be held accountable. Cases have been booked under the AP Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair Means) Act, 1997,’’ he added.