Amaravati: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) celebrated its 40th formation on Tuesday with the party’s national President and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu called for a renewed struggle for the reconstruction of Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu recalled that it was in this day in 1982, N.T. Rama Rao floated the TDP and demonstrated the power of Telugu self-respect to the whole world.
Stating that the “motherland” is now facing an existential threat under the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rule, he said it that everyone has a duty to fight with self-confidence to regain Telugu pride.
In a video message to the Telugu NRIs, the TDP chief lauded the Telugu diaspora for taking an active part in Janmabhoomi rural development works for the construction of motherland.
Naidu said that the state has fallen back into the hands of forces of destruction. “Time has come to rededicate ourselves to restore Telugu pride,” he said.
The former Chief Minister claimed that in its long journey, the TDP had weathered and overcame many obstacles. “NTR laid strong foundation for the party’s pro-poor welfare agenda. He ushered in bold reforms by scrapping the Patel-Patwari system to end suppression,” he said.
He recalled that the Rs 2-a-kKg rice scheme introduced by NTR became a model for the entire country and it was the beginning of food security currently being implemented.
Naidu asserted that in the united Andhra Pradesh, the TDP laid the foundation for a vibrant knowledge economy by developing infrastructure projects in IT and other sectors. Huge wealth creation had enabled greater scope for poverty alleviation. Children of farmers and poor families went to all corners of the world, took up jobs and sent back money for their parents, he added.
He said after the 2014 bifurcation, the TDP regime came out with a grand plan to create new opportunities for the Andhra Pradesh people by developing Amaravati on the lines of Hyderabad. However, the present government stalled Amaravati and also chased away industries. There has been no development in the past three years, he said.
The TDP chief termed it as a matter of pride as the party NRI units were celebrating 40th foundation day in over 200 cities spread over 40 countries. The NRIs in Europe extended timely help to bring back the stranded Telugus in the war-torn Ukraine. The NRI TDP units were responding immediately with a sacred duty to help those in need of help in times of emergency.
Naidu said since its inception, the TDP has been giving top priority to poverty eradication and finding solutions to the problems of people. The party has now completed four decades of committed services to the people.
Earlier, in a tweet, Naidu asserted that the TDP would always stand for development, welfare and equal distribution of power among all sections. The TDP would go down in history as the only political party that had passed on the benefits of reforms to the village level.
On March 29, 1982, N.T. Rama Rao, a popular Telugu actor, formed the TDP on the slogan of Telugu self-respect. NTR, as he was popularly called, created a record of sorts by coming to power within nine months of forming the party.
NTR died in January 1996, a few months after his son-in-law Naidu led a revolt against him to become Chief Minister of then undivided Andhra Pradesh. Naidu led the TDP to power in 1999 and remained Chief minister till 2004, when Congress wrested power.
After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the TDP formed the first government in the residuary state. In 2019, the party lost power to the YSRCP led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
