Cannabis Indica

Telugu Desam Party
AbbreviationTDP
PresidentN. Chandrababu Naidu
General SecretaryNara Lokesh
Parliamentary ChairpersonGalla Jayadev
Lok Sabha LeaderKinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu
FounderN. T. Rama Rao
Founded29 March 1982 (42 years ago) (1982-03-29)
HeadquartersN. T. R. Bhavan, Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh, India
Student wingTelugu Nadu Students Federation[1]
Youth wingTelugu Yuvatha
Women's wingTelugu Mahila
Labour wingTelugu Nadu Trade Union Council
Peasant's wingTelugu Rythu
IdeologyPopulism[2]
Regionalism[2][3]
Economic liberalism[4]
Political positionCentre[5] to centre-right [6]
Colours  Yellow
ECI StatusState party[7]
Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha
2 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha
0 / 245
Seats in State Legislative Assemblies
Seats in State Legislative Councils
Number of states and union territories in government
0 / 31
Election symbol
Bicycle
Party flag
Website
www.telugudesam.org

The Telugu Desam Party (transl. Party of the Telugu Land;[13] abbr. TDP) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[14] It was founded by the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N. T. Rama Rao (N.T.R.) on 29 March 1982 and has focused on supporting Telugu speakers. The party has won a five-time majority in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.[15][16]

From 1 September 1995, the TDP was led by N. T. Rama Rao's son-in-law and the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandra Babu Naidu as national president of the party. The headquarters of the party is called N. T. R. Bhavan, which is located at Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh.

Ideology and symbolism[edit]

The Telugu Desam Party follows a pro-Telugu ideology. It was founded as an alternative to the Congress hegemony, by emphasizing Telugu regional pride and serving as the party for farmers, backward castes and middle-class people. Since the 1990s, it has followed an economically liberal policy that has been seen as pro-business and pro-development.[3]

The TDP uses yellow as the background colour for the flag with a hut, wheel and plough symbol in the foreground. The party's official symbol is a bicycle.

Health insurance scheme[edit]

Since 2014, every active member has been eligible for a life insurance policy of ₹2 lakh to be paid to their family in cases of death or permanent total disability, such as the loss of two limbs of eyes, due to accidents, with additional payouts of ₹5,000 per child (up to two) for educational costs. Active members are also reimbursed for up to ₹50,000 to cover hospital treatment from such accidents.[17]

History[edit]

N. T. Rama Rao era (1983–1995)[edit]

N. Taraka Rama Rao

As a film actor, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) is a well-known name not only to the Telugu people but also to the entire country. On 18 November 1977, near Diviseema[18] in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, the sea became turbulent and the Pralaya cyclone that crossed the coast at once caused great destruction to the villages. Thousands of people lost their lives in Horugali and Rakasi waves. The rotting bodies were mass cremated. Officially 14,204 people and unofficially about 50,000 lost their lives in the devastation caused by this typhoon. About 20 thousand acres of crops were damaged. Apart from this, property damage is also estimated to be in crores. People still get excited when they remember that Diviseema was flooded. Film actor NTR, who was shocked by the situation at that time, took the support of the entire film industry by saying that he should stand by the people of Divisea. NTR came to streets and begged everyone to help the Divisema people. The money donated by people was used to rehabilitate the people of Diviseema.

TDP party was founded thinking that we should stand by the people of the state who are struggling with many such problems and put a political party to stand by the people. The party was formed on 29 March 1982 and contested the 1983 elections. The people of Andhra Pradesh, who were fed up with the Congress government which had been ruling for 36 years, gave a great victory to the TDP party in the 1983 elections. On 9 January 1983, NTR was sworn in as the 7th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.[19]

On 16 August 1984, when NTR went to America for the operation, Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, one of the MLAs of the TDP party, took the oath of office with the Governor along with his MLAs as the Chief Minister.[20] On 16 September 1984, NTR along with his MLAs went to Delhi and held a march and dharna against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Then NTR was once again sworn in as the Chief Minister.

N. Chandrababu Naidu era (1995–present)[edit]

N. Chandrababu Naidu

Telangana Faction (2014–present)[edit]

After the formation of Telangana, TDP, in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), fought the 2014 Legislative Assembly election. TDP won 15 seats in the newly formed Telangana Legislative Assembly.[21] TDP also won a Lok Sabha seat from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency in the simultaneously held 2014 Indian general election.[22][23]

In the 2016 Hyderabad civic polls, TDP won one councillor seat out of 150 seats.[24] In the 2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, TDP won two seats in the 119-member state Assembly, both the seats in Khammam district. It had contested the 2018 assembly elections in an alliance with Indian National Congress and other parties under the Praja Kutami.[25]

After the bifurcation, the party created two separate state units for both Telugu states. L. Ramana was appointed as the first president of the Telangana unit of TDP in 2015 and served till 19 July 2021. In July 2021, Telangana TDP appointed Bakkani Narasimhulu as the president.[26]

In November 2022, Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj, a former MLC and BC leader, was appointed as the president of Telangana TDP by N. Chandrababu Naidu.[27] Kasani, who served as the MLC from undivided Andhra Pradesh, has served as the national president of Mudiraj Mahasabha and had a good hold in the BC community. Under his leadership, the party sees revival in the state and has started actively participating in various public gatherings and rallies in Telangana.[28][29][30]

However, Mudiraj resigned as Telangana TDP president as well as his party membership on 30 October 2023, after TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the party would not contest the Telangana polls. The party's Telangana unit has been left leaderless since then.[31]

Activities[edit]

On 21 December 2022, the party organized a large public gathering in Khammam district of Telangana to re-energize the party cadre.[32][33] It was attended by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and TTDP president Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj. A huge crowd attended the gathering held at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Khammam.[34] While addressing the gathering, Chandrababu Naidu appealed to those who quit the party to join other political parties to return to regain the party's past glory.[35] After 2018, it was the first time that TDP organized a show of strength in Telangana.[36][37]

Election history[edit]

Lok Sabha election history[edit]

The total number of Lok Sabha seats in (previously undivided) Andhra Pradesh (1956-2014) was 42. After the 2014 bifurcation of the state, there are 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. The National United Front was formed with N. T. Rama Rao as chairperson. Under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu the NDA government was formed with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of India. The TDP had G. M. C. Balayogi as the 12th Speaker of the Lok Sabha. TDP was the second largest party in 1984 Indian General Elections, winning 30 seats with 4.31% of votes, thus achieving the distinction of becoming the first regional party to become a national opposition party. However, in the next election they were reduced to only two seats out of 42 contested, which has to this day remained the biggest defeat for the party.

Vote share in consecutive Lok Sabha elections
1984
4.31%
1989
3.29%
1991
2.99%
1996
2.97%
1998
2.77%
1999
3.65%
2004
3.04%
2009
2.51%
2014
2.55%
2019
2.04%
Year Lok Sabha Party leader Seats won Change in seats Percentage of votes Vote swing Popular vote Outcome Ref.
1984 8th N. T. Rama Rao
30 / 543
Increase 30 4.31% Steady new 10,132,859 Opposition [38]
1989 9th
2 / 543
Decrease 28 3.29% Decrease 1.02% 9,909,728 Others [39]
1991 10th
13 / 543
Increase 11 2.99% Decrease 0.30 8,223,271 [40]
1996 11th N. Chandrababu Naidu
16 / 543
Increase 3 2.97% Decrease 0.02 9,931,826 [41]
1998 12th
12 / 543
Decrease 4 2.77% Decrease 0.20 10,199,463 Government [42]
1999 13th
29 / 543
Increase 17 3.65% Increase 0.88 13,297,370 [43]
2004 14th
5 / 543
Decrease 24 3.04% Decrease 0.61 11,844,811 Others [44]
2009 15th
6 / 543
Increase 1 2.51% Decrease 0.53 10,481,659 [45]
2014 16th
16 / 543
Increase 10 2.55% Increase 0.04 14,099,230 Government [46]
2019 17th
3 / 543
Decrease 13 2.04% Decrease 0.51 12,515,345 Others

State legislative assembly elections[edit]

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections[47]
Year Assembly Party leader Seats contested Seats won Change in seats Percentage of votes Vote swing Popular vote Outcome
2014 14th N. Chandrababu Naidu 160
102 / 175
Increase 102 44.9% Steady new 12,916,000 Government
2019 15th 175
23 / 175
Decrease 79 39.17% Decrease 5.73 12,304,668 Opposition
2024 16th N.

Chandrababu Naidu

144
Telangana Legislative Assembly Elections[48]
Year Assembly Party leader Seats contested Seats won Change in seats Percentage of votes Vote swing Popular vote Outcome
2014 1st N. Chandrababu Naidu 72
15 / 119
Increase 15 14.7% Steady new 2,828,492 Others
2018 2nd 13
2 / 119
Decrease 13 3.51% Decrease 11.19 725,714
United Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections[47]
Year Assembly Party leader Seats contested Seats won Change in seats Percentage of votes Vote swing Popular vote Outcome
1983 7th N. T. Rama Rao 289
201 / 294
Increase 201 46.30% Steady new 45,072 Government
1985 8th 250
202 / 294
Increase 1 46.21% Decrease 0.09% 10,625,508
1989 9th 241
74 / 294
Decrease 127 36.54% Decrease 9.67% 10,506,982 Opposition
1994 10th 251
216 / 294
Increase 142 44.14% Increase 7.60% 13,743,842 Government
1999 11th N. Chandrababu Naidu 269
180 / 294
Decrease 36 43.87% Decrease 0.27% 14,613,307
2004 12th 267
47 / 294
Decrease 133 37.59% Decrease 6.28% 13,444,168 Opposition
2009 13th 225
92 / 294
Increase 45 28.12% Decrease 9.47% 11,826,457

List of party leaders[edit]

National Presidents[edit]

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 N. Chandrababu Naidu
(1950–)
29 May 2015 Incumbent 8 years, 323 days

Presidents[edit]

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 N. T. Rama Rao
(1923–1996)
29 March 1982 31 August 1995 13 years, 155 days
2 N. Chandrababu Naidu
(1950–)
1 September 1995 29 May 2015 19 years, 270 days

Andhra Pradesh unit presidents[edit]

No. Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office Ref.
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 Kimidi Kalavenkata Rao
(1952–)
30 September 2015 20 October 2020 5 years, 20 days [49]
2 Kinjarapu Atchannaidu 20 October 2020 Incumbent 3 years, 179 days [50]

Telangana unit presidents[edit]

No. Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office Ref.
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 L. Ramana
(1961–)
30 September 2015 9 July 2021 5 years, 282 days [26]
2 Bakkani Narasimhulu
(1960–)
19 July 2021 4 November 2022 1 year, 108 days
3 Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj
(1954–)
10 November 2022 30 October 2023 354 days [27]

Legislative leaders[edit]

List of speakers of the Lok Sabha[edit]

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office Lok Sabha
(Election)
Constituency
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 G. M. C. Balayogi
(1951–2002)
24 March 1998 19 October 1999 3 years, 341 days 12th
(1998)
Amalapuram
22 October 1999 3 March 2002 13th
(1999)

List of union cabinet ministers[edit]

Portfolio Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office Prime Minister Government
Assumed office Left office Time in office
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting P. Upendra
(1936–2009)
6 December 1989 10 November 1990 339 days Vishwanath Pratap Singh Janata Dal
(National Front)
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
Ministry of Rural Development Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu
(1957–2012)
1 June 1996 19 March 1998 1 year, 291 days H. D. Deve Gowda
Inder Kumar Gujral
Janata Dal
(United Front)
Ministry of Commerce Bolla Bulli Ramaiah
(1926–2018)
29 June 1996 19 March 1998 1 year, 263 days
Ministry of Textiles 20 January 1998 19 March 1998 58 days
Ministry of Urban Development Ummareddy Venkateswarlu
(1935–)
9 June 1997 19 March 1998 283 days
Ministry of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju
(1951–)
26 May 2014 9 March 2018 3 years, 287 days Narendra Modi Bharatiya Janata Party
(NDA)
Ministry of Science and Technology (State) Y. S. Chowdary
(1961–)
9 November 2014 9 March 2018 3 years, 120 days
Earth Sciences (State)

List of chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh[edit]

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term in office Assembly
(Election)
Constituency Ministry
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 N. T. Rama Rao
(1923–1996)
9 January 1983 16 August 1984 7 years, 195 days 7th
(1983)
Tirupati Rama Rao I
16 September 1984 9 March 1985
9 March 1985 2 December 1989 8th
(1985)
Hindupur Rama Rao II
12 December 1994 1 September 1995 10th
(1994)
Rama Rao III
2 N. Bhaskara Rao
(1936–)
16 August 1984 16 September 1984 31 days 7th
(1983)
Vemuru Bhaskara Rao
3 Nara Chandra Babu Naidu
(1950–)
1 September 1995 11 October 1999 13 years, 245 days 10th
(1994)
Kuppam Naidu I
11 October 1999 13 May 2004 11th
(1999)
Naidu II
8 June 2014 29 May 2019 14th
(2014)
Naidu III

See also[edit]

[51][52]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ a b "Encyclopedia Britannica". 17 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b Suri 2004.
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  5. ^ "Tumultuous transition". 27 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Why no centre-right political party in India today?". 16 February 2014.
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  18. ^ "Recalling the Diviseema cyclone". The Hindu. 20 November 2015.
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  20. ^ "Dismissal of NTR ministry planned, Nadendla Bhaskara Rao nurtured with care of an assassin".
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  22. ^ "Telangana Lok Sabha (General) Election Results 2014". Elections.in. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
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  34. ^ Reddy, B Satyanarayana (22 December 2022). "After rousing reception, Chandrababu invites leaders back to Telangana TDP". New Indian Express.
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  36. ^ "Chandrababu Naidu confident of TDP regaining lost glory in Telangana". Siasat. 21 December 2022.
  37. ^ "Will revive the past glory of TDP in Telangana, says Naidu". Hindustan Times. 22 December 2022.
  38. ^ Election Commission 1984.
  39. ^ Election Commission 1989.
  40. ^ Election Commission 1991.
  41. ^ Election Commission 1996.
  42. ^ Election Commission 1998.
  43. ^ Election Commission 1999.
  44. ^ Election Commission 2004.
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  46. ^ Election Commission 2014.
  47. ^ a b "Andhra Pradesh Assembly Election Results". Election Commission of India. 17 January 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
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  50. ^ "Kinjarapu Atchannaidu appointed as TDP's Andhra Pradesh president by Chandrababu Naidu". The New Indian Express. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  51. ^ "N Chandrababu Naidu appointed Telangana TDP chief". The Times of India. 5 November 2022.
  52. ^ Gowtham, G. (13 December 2022). "Telangana TDP Can Play A Key Role In AP Election?". India Herald.

Works cited[edit]

External links[edit]

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