I am proud of Satya Nadella, says father BN Yugandhar

HYDERABAD: BN Yugandhar, the father of newly-appointed Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella, has spoken publicly about his joy for the first time in a conversation with ET.

“I am proud of my son,” said the retired bureaucrat, who has served in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Planning Commission. “I wish him all the best.” Yugandhar, 76, has been avoiding all media attention ever since it came to light that Nadella was the front-runner to succeed Steve Ballmer as CEO. To the dozens of journalists who camped outside his Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad, he said he wished for privacy and did not want to comment. An IAS officer of the 1962 batch, Yugandhar was the top bureaucrat in the rural development ministry when Narasimha Rao was the prime minister.

Friends describe him as having strong left leanings and colleagues credit him with pushing through guidelines which would institutionalise money flow for watershed development direct to districts from the national government , bypassing states.

“Satya worked very hard for the last 22 years at Microsoft to reach where he is today,” he said, declining to provide details of his conversations with Nadella after he was appointed to the top job. “I think Satya deserved what he has achieved so far and I can only wish him success in all his endeavours.