Amaravati: A lot of people had gathered at New MLA Quarters in Hyderabad in 1982 as they are not aware that they are going to stand as a witness to a sensation and history that is going to take place in the political arena of the country in general and the state in particular. There comes, the legendary actor NTR, who had said that he had made up his mind at Ramakrishna Studios a week ago on his entry into politics.
A week later, a meeting was arranged at the Legislature's Club in the New MLA Quarters. The MLA quarters campus was packed to capacity, especially young people, flocked to the meeting, which was supposed to be held between four walls with 300 people. But, had to be moved into the lawn. Speaking to the gathering, NTR had announced that he will float a political party. Someone asked to tell them the party's name, then he smiled and said that.. ‘I am a Telugu man and my party is Telugu Desam Party! and the rest is history.
The Telugu Desam Party, which was launched by NTR has introduced a new kind of politics to the state. When the NTR called "Telugudesam pilustondhi raa, kadaliraa..(quoted in Telugu)! (Telugu Desam is calling come on .. move ..!)’. NTR reached out to the people on 'Chaitanya Ratham a vehicle which was driven by his son N Harikrishna. He used to sleep in 'Chaitanya Ratham and bath on the roadside. Thus NTR opened up a new trend. Nine months after its inception, TDP gained a landslide victory in the 1983 elections.
However, the party had suffered its first setback after coming into power. NTR was ousted during the August 1984 crisis. NTR, who underwent heart surgery in the United States, has spearheaded the movement to restore democracy, regardless of his health. After a month-long public movement.. NTR became Chief Minister yet again. assembly elections were held in 1983, 1985, 1989 and 1994 during the NTR regime and Telugu Desam won a solid victory three times. The party has won over 200 seats three times.
Read: Tributes paid to NTR on 98th birth anniversary
NTR had introduced welfare schemes such as Rs 2 kg rice, pucca houses for the poor, electricity for Rs.50, agriculture pump sets etc. He initiated reforms such as equal rights for women in property, abolition of the Patwari system, formation of zonal councils. After a landslide victory in the 1994 Assembly elections.. internal developments in the party led to a change of leadership. Chandrababu took over as the Chief Minister of the state on September 1, 1995, and was elected as the party president. In the 1999 Assembly elections.. Chandrababu won 180 seats and became the Chief Minister for the second time. Later, YSR Rajasekhara Reddy won the polls in 2004 and 2009.
After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, elections were held in 2014 and people gave a massive mandate to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. When Andhra Pradesh does not even have a capital after the bifurcation of the state.. the people of AP reposed faith in Chandrababu Naidu in the 2014 elections and voted the TDP to power. After winning that election, Chandrababu became the Chief Minister for the third time.
When Chandrababu was at the helm in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, he gave priority to development and reforms. Hyderabad has become a hub of IT and biotech industries. Many engineering colleges were set up due to initiative. When he took over as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation, he prepared a master plan for the construction of the capital Amravati and started the construction. The construction of the Polavaram project was launched during his tenure. Many industries like Kia, Apollo Tyres, Asian Paints and many cell phone companies have set up their units in the state.
Under the leadership of party national general secretary Lokesh, TDP is implementing schemes that would benefit the party workers. Accident insurance of Rs 2 lakh has been provided to each activist, insurance has been provided to the families of 4,844 activists, who have been injured in accidents. Similarly, Rs 2.35 crore of financial assistance was provided for the education of the children of the activists.
