TDP in roaring 40s, turns 44

Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), founded based on emotion to protect the ‘self-respect’ of six crore Telugus in 1982, opposing the Congress Party tooth and nail, by matinee idol and darling of the masses Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao aka NTR, turned 44 today on March 29, 2026.

Before we get into a bit of its history, let’s take a glance at the remarkable contributions of the TDP under NTR and under N Chandrababu Naidu.

Under NTR:

Rs 2 per kg rice scheme → major food security initiative for the poor

⁠Abolition of the hereditary village officers’ system (the Patel–Patwari system removed)

⁠Women’s property rights strengthened (early push for gender equity in inheritance)

⁠Decentralisation focus begins → groundwork for local governance reforms

⁠Mandal system introduced (administrative restructuring below district level for better governance)

Telugu Ganga project

⁠Assertion of State pride (Telugu self-respect narrative)

⁠Empowerment of Backward Classes and women (policy-level initiatives)

Potti Sriramulu Telugu University and University of Health Sciences (now, NTRUHS)

Under Chandrababu Naidu:

Boost to IT Revolution in Hyderabad (Cyberabad model)

Bringing in Microsoft, Oracle, TCS, Infosys and opening opportunities to multiple IT companies and professionals

Making the best use of the 1991 Economic Reforms of the PV Narasimha Rao Government

E-governance pioneer (e-Seva, real-time governance)

Launch of Janmabhoomi programme → community participation in development

Women SHG empowerment model (nationwide replication)

Infrastructure and investment-driven growth

Setting up premier institutions like IIIT, NALSAR, ISB and opening opportunities for many engineering colleges

Electricity sector reforms

Conceived the idea of the Green Field International Airport

Real-time governance via AP Real Time Governance Society

Amaravati capital vision post-bifurcation (a work in progress)

The above list is just a mention of major events and it’s not that there are many other achievements to the credit of the TDP.

However, it has its own set of major failures, drawbacks and misadventures, mistakes like any other political party.

But that is the nature and order of politics in a democratic society. Nobody is an exception. Some rise and some fall. It’s a cyclical process.

In its 44th year, the TDP, under Naidu, is again riding on the crest of a resounding never-before success. The TDP has a ‘controlling stake’ at the Centre, owing to the political predicament of the BJP, which suffered a huge loss in its Lok Sabha seats, forcing it to depend on the TDP and JD(U) of Nitish Kumar.

However, Naidu is not able to remote-control the Narendra Modi Government, nor was he able to have the proverbial cake and eat it too during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime or the HD Deve Gowda or IK Gujral times.

The birth of TDP

The rollercoaster journey of the TDP has always provided a fascinating account of politics in the undivided Andhra Pradesh and in the divided Telugu States.

The very foundation and christening of the TDP and designing of its flag by an artist—NTR, who was not only a superstar in the Telugu Tinseltown but a great artist with an incredibly beautiful handwriting as he is an artist himself—was like a volcanic eruption from the emotion of the Telugu people.

NTR was seen as a formidable alternative to the Congress Party that ruled with a stranglehold on the State for a period of 27 years with an unchallenged supremacy.

Legend has it that the thought of floating a regional political party sparked in the mind of NTR for two reasons.

While the first one was the denial of a Rajya Sabha seat to him by then Prime Minister Indra Gandhi, an act that hurt his ego; the second one was the shocker of power and glory he had to swallow grudgingly like a bitter pill when he had attended and witnessed–by invitation–the swearing in ceremony of his classmate Bhavanam Venkataraman Reddy as the Chief Minister in February 1982.

There is no official confirmation of either, but surely NTR always was a socially-conscious person.

Stemmed from the strength of this quality of social consciousness, concern for the poor and the downtrodden and drawing inspiration from most of his movies, both social, mythological and historical, NTR kickstarted his political peregrination with the velocity of light.

When he thundered his indignation against the Congress dispensation of the time, it had traversed faster than the speed of sound straight into the minds of all sections of people, most of whom were either resigned to their fate or generally reluctant.

NTR was deified and consecrated as a demi-God in their hearts by the Telugu people.

“Samajame Devalayam; Prajale devullu” and “Andhrula atmagauravam” (society is the temple and people are gods and self-respect of Telugus) are the two slogans that transformed into powerful slogans on which the edifice of the TDP took birth and grew under his stewardship.

The kinematic histrionics and antics of NTR endeared him to all sections of society and people saw him as the challenger of the Congress regime and as a Messiah (no less).

Addressing a wide range of issues that people had been bogged down by, the Screen God was seen as the reincarnation of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama or a personification of the roles of saviour he had donned in socio-political flicks.

NTR floated the party in 1982 on this very day—barely after watching the swearing-in ceremony of Bhavanam Venkatram—at New MLA quarters (now very old) at Adarsh Nagar, along with the first turncoat to cross over from the Congress, Nadendla Bhaskara Rao.

One after the other began rallying behind NTR to magnify the Telugu Desam Party into a mass movement.

Many leaders from the Congress and many youths drawn from different walks of life, most of them were highly educated, and many senior leaders and professionals with experience in public life stood by him.

NTR continues to hold the record of bringing the party into power within nine months of its birth in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Beginning with floating his party, to his campaign in a customised Chevrolet van he owned for years, converting it into his dais to address public meetings at every nook and cranny of the State; from speaking a language that provoked the people against the Congress to the hilt to getting elected; from taking the oath at Lal Bahadur Stadium, digressing from the convention of doing it at Raj Bhavan, to his administration, everything was newsy, juicy and a bit of a sensation.

His dismissal through an intra-party coup by Bhaskara Rao, and his reinstatement following a massive public uprising were all events that dotted the history.

His loss of power and his strong comebacks made headlines.

NTR made a significant contribution to national politics by cobbling and chairing a coalition in the form of the National Front and had Rajiv Gandhi ousted from power and had Viswanath Pratap Singh installed as the Prime Minister.

Palace coup or change of guard?

The palace coup of 1995, through which his son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu assumed the office of the Chief Minister and deposed NTR from the party presidency, also became an international sensation.

That usurping of power pronounced the end of NTR’s era in politics, and his death five months later brought the curtains down to a tradition, a history and a regime that left an indelible impression among the people.

Chandrababu Naidu must be credited with making meticulous moves to keep the pot boiling initially and giving the party new impetus to sustain for 31 years even after disgracing NTR from the helm.

Naidu brought in new-age politics, blending it with the machinations of Machiavellian trickery, and the craftsmanship of a leader who always had an unrivalled control over the party.

Naidu carved a niche for himself in areas that became trends of his time.

Under him, the party had seen its rise, fall, resurgence, debacle and resounding resurrection as late as 2024.

Deviating from the tradition of stitching coalitions from its very beginning, Naidu experimented with just one election, going it alone without poll alliances and had bitten the dust—a worst-ever electoral drubbing in the history of the party at the hands of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Deviation from anti-Congress policy

Though it’s just politics and everything is ‘fair’—or propaganda makes it appear fair—the biggest compromise Chandrababu Naidu had made was deviating from the avowed ‘anti-Congress’ principle of its founder.

Naidu compromised and negotiated with the Congress and secured its support in 1996 to have the United Front Government under Deve Gowda and then IK Gujral.

Being the convener of United Front and a key person who stitched the coalition together, Naidu dumped the formation and joined the National Democratic Alliance as its convener.

He once again made another compromise and tacitly allowed the Congress regime under N Koran Kumar Reddy, which faced a no-confidence motion in the Assembly, to continue. Had his party voted in favour of the motion, sticking to the TDP’s anti-Congress stand, the Government would have lost and that would have pushed the formation of a separate Telangana into a limbo temporarily, though.

For a third time, he concealed the TDP’s stand under wraps and entered into an alliance with the Congress in 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana and shared seats and dais with Rahul Gandhi.

These political flip-flops often worked for him and sometimes recoiled.

This is a perennial smudge he would carry throughout, however much loudly his supporters may shout down his detractors.

The TDP is now at the cusp of new age politics with the third generation almost ready for the saddle in the party in the form of Naidu’s only son and IT Minister Nara Lokesh.

The party is indeed at a point of inflection as Chandrababu Naidu will be 80 years old for the next election.

That he’s demonstrating energetic levels as youthful as any of those in the younger generation is a different story. Yet.