It was exactly three decades ago on this day that Telugu Desam Party was founded by matinee idol N T Rama Rao, who announced it at a press conference in the New MLA Quarters.
As the TDP website claimed, the party was “an epitome of pride and self respect of the Telugu speaking people in Andhra Pradesh and represented as a force to reckon with against the Delhi durbar which humiliated the Andhras.”
The TDP has traveled a long way in the last three decades, but now it finds itself at a cross roads. The party which had changed the state and national political spectrum in the ‘80s and ‘90s is now a pathetic state.
Having lost power to the Congress in 2004, the TDP is yet to regain the people’s confidence and support. And as new players like YSR Congress party are making their entry with solid support of the people, the TDP is facing an uncertain future.
And the only person who has to take the blame for the sorry state of affairs in the TDP is its president N Chandrababu Naidu. Though the party still has a strong and enviable cadre base and has a well-knit organizational structure, it is not able to garner the sympathy of the people only because of one reason: lack of credibility in Naidu.
Political analysts, who have made a thorough study of the three decades of TDP’s political journey, have unanimously said it was because of Naidu’s pro-rich and anti-farmer image that the party had lost the people’s support.
“The first phase of Naidu’s regime was by and large people-friendly. It was during this period that Naidu had brought international focus to Andhra Pradesh and particularly Hyderabad. But his second stint between 1999 and 2004 had nullified all the good work done by the TDP governments in the past. The victory had gone into his head and he thought he was invincible. He kept the genuine party workers and leaders at bay and depended only on official inputs. His feet went off the ground and his pro-World Bank policies led to his debacle finally,” an analyst said.
Even now, Naidu has not changed much though he gives such an impression. He still continues to ignore genuine party leaders and encourages cash-rich people. As a result, many leaders deserted him and jumped into other parties. His inability to take a clear stand on crucial issues like Telangana has caused enormous loss to the party. If he continues with his style of functioning, the TDP is bound to remain in the opposition for another one decade.
