Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and national president of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nara Chandrababu Naidu, expressed confidence that his party would regain its former glory in Telangana. He addressed TDP leaders and workers at the party’s Telangana headquarters and urged them to work hard to develop the TDP into a major political force. Naidu, who was previously Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, claimed that the progress achieved by Telangana was due to the foundation laid by the TDP. He added that he was confident that the TDP would return to power in Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu’s meeting with Telangana TDP leaders in Hyderabad followed his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national President J.P. Nadda in Delhi on June 3. The TDP President’s meeting with Amit Shah came amid reports that TDP and BJP were interested in reviving their alliance in Telugu states. The TDP had pulled out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2018 over the issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The party had fought 2018 Assembly elections in alliance with Congress and smaller parties but had lost. The TDP went alone in Andhra Pradesh but lost power to the YSR Congress Party.
Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled towards the end of 2023 while elections to Andhra Pradesh Assembly are due along with Lok Sabha polls next year. Naidu stated that he had no doubt that the TDP would emerge as the most powerful party of Telugus after the two elections. This was Naidu’s first visit to Hyderabad after his re-election as the President of the TDP at the party’s annual conclave at Rajahmundry.
