Chandrababu Naidu meets Telangana leaders to reactivate TDP

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday held a meeting with the leaders of his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Telangana as part of his efforts to reactivate the party in the state.  

Naidu, who is also the TDP national President, met the party’s Telangana leaders at NTR Trust Bhavan, the party’s state headquarters here, and discussed his plans to reactivate and strengthen the TDP in Telangana and the strategy to be adopted in the local body elections.

He asked the party leaders to focus on the enrollment of party members. He gave an assurance that those who work hard for the party will be given the priority.

His statement, which came a day after his meeting with Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, left political analysts trying to figure out its implications.

Naidu announced the dissolution of all the party panels in the state to restructure the party organisation. He is likely to name a new state President of the party in Telangana after Kasani Gnaneswar quit the party late last year over its decision not to contest Assembly elections.

Since backward classes constitute about 50 per cent of Telangana’s population, the TDP leadership is said to be keen on once again appointing a BC leader as its Telangana unit chief.

Under the new state President, the TDP is likely to focus on the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections likely to be held next year. Naidu, who led the TDP back to power in Andhra Pradesh along with its allies Jana Sena and BJP, had last month announced his plans to reactivate the TDP in Telangana, stating that the TDP will regain lost glory in Telangana.

After staying away from the 2023 Assembly and recent Lok Sabha polls in Telangana, the TDP is looking to make a re-entry in Telangana.

On his first visit to Hyderabad after assuming office as the Chief Minister, Naidu not only met his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy to discuss post-bifurcation issues pending for the last 10 years but also addressed a meeting of TDP leaders and cadres.

The TDP had stayed away from Assembly elections held in November 2023 due to the crisis faced by the party in neighbouring state following Naidu’s arrest in the alleged skill development scam. This was the first time that the TDP did not contest the elections since the early 1980s when the party was floated by N. T. Rama Rao. The TDP, which was lying low since its defeat in the 2018 Assembly elections, showed signs of revival in 2022 when Naidu addressed a public meeting in Khammam and expressed confidence that the party would regain glory in Telangana.

The TDP had contested in the 2018 elections in Telangana in alliance with the Congress. The party could win just two seats and both the MLAs had later defected to then ruling TRS (now BRS).