Telugu Desam Party
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| TELUGU DESAM PARTY | |
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| Leader | N. Chandrababu Naidu |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Road No.2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500033 |
| Alliance | recently broke with NDA |
| Political ideology | Regionalist, Fiscally Conservative |
| Website | http://www.telugudesamparty.org |
| See also the politics of India series | |
Telugu Desam Party (Telugu :తెలుగు దేశం Party for Telugu Land and people) or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N.T. Rama Rao on March 29, 1982. Rama Rao wanted an alternative to the ruling Congress Party in the state.
In the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), it was the fourth largest party with 29 members.
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[edit] NTR's era
NTR, also known as ANNA (elder brother), toured the state extensively in what was called Chaitanya Ratham (literally - a Chariot which spreads awareness ), his "election vehicle", and made use of the immense popularity of his on-screen movie image( his image in roles of hindu mythological dieties- Rama, Krishna etc) to win the next election. The party was voted into power in a record nine months after its establishment on March 29, 1982. TDP also won more than 35 (out of 42) Lok Sabha seats in the 1984 Indian elections. This made TDP the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha as Congress won more than 400 (out of about 500) seats in that election and this was also the first time any regional party became the largest opposition.
The TDP was voted to power in the state in [[1983]. During his first term, Rama Rao introduced many populist measures like selling a kilogram of rice for Rs.2.
In 1994, N.T. Rama Rao gave up his sanyasa and married student of political history who came to write his biography . In this period he also played a significant role in national politics by pledging support to the then prime Ministers V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar (who formed coalition governments in the absence of absolute majority for their respective parties).
TDP returned to power in 1994 by winning 213 assembly seats in house of 295. Rama Rao was elected to be the Chief Minister for the second time. But his governing cabinet and his family suffered from what many political observers saw, as "unconstitutional interference in affairs" by his second wife. In 1995, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, finance minister and the third son-in-law of NTR (who is married to NTR's daughter- Bhuvaneswari, through his(NTR's) first wife (Bhasava Tharakam)) overthrew Rama Rao's government by gathering a majority of the MLAs in September 1995. This is known as Viceroy Hotel Coup. The overwhelming consensus against his group led the Election Commission to recognize a break-away faction under the party's original name. NTR, the founder of the party, had to rename what was left of the party as "NTR TDP". He vowed to go to the people, seeking a fresh mandate after this humiliation. However, within a year, he died of heart attack on January 16,1996.
On October 9, 2008, TDP announced a major shift in its policy towards Telangana. The politburo of TDP, after long rounds of discussion, decided that it would favour a separate state for Telangana. Previously, TDP strongly opposed the separate state as it stood for a unified Andhra Pradesh.
[edit] Naidu's era
After the demise of N.T. Rama Rao in 1996, his widow led the minority party again in the face of other opponents who were claiming to inherit his legacy. However, the infighting, fragmentation and the lack of a charismatic leader, led her group labeled as NTR-TDP to political oblivion in the subsequent elections. Chandrababu Naidu remained the leader of the majority faction, now recognised as the official Telugu Desam.
[edit] First Term
Naidu expressed a goal of establishing Hyderabad and the state as a center for information technology. He strived to make Andhra Pradesh what he called Swarnaandhra Pradesh (literally Golden Andhra Pradesh). He contained the communal elements in the state to a very large extent and thus improved the Law & Order situation in the state.[citation needed] He also introduced economic reforms, administrative reforms in the state, a citizens charter to provide faster delivery of services to people, and promoting Self Help Groups for the empowerment of women. In his first term in office as Chief Minister he promoted private participation in the power sector.
[edit] Second Term
During his second term in the office Naidu stressed the need for better roads and infrastructure throughout the entire state. Following an assassination attempt on October 1, 2003, he dissolved the assembly on November 15, 2003 and went for early elections in May 2004. TDP won only 43 seats in the elections.
[edit] Loss of Power
TDP lost it's power to congress in 2004 elections. It was a landslide win for the Congress at that time. On the road of preparation for 2009 elections, TDP is facing many obstacles; the major being in the form of Chiranjeevi's entrance into politics launching a political party by name Praja Rajyam. With that event TDP lost it's top cadre leaders who migrated into Chiranjeevi's party. Chandrababu Naidu is now trying to bring all the members of the NTR family together to get back the old prominence of the party.
