Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, December 22, expressed confidence that the party will regain its past glory in Telangana. In a show of strength in Telangana for the first time since his party’s crushing defeat in the 2018 Assembly elections, Naidu addressed a public meeting in Khammam district and said that the huge turnout indicated that TDP will regain its past glory in the state.
Khammam shares a border with Andhra Pradesh and has a large population of the Kamma community, a dominant caste to which Naidu and TDP founder NT Rama Rao belong, and considered to be politically associated with the party. In the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections, TDP won two seats in Khammam district in Sathupalle and Aswaraopet constituencies. However, both legislators later switched to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Naidu said that he always worked with a vision of a better future for the people of the two Telugu states. Listing out the developmental works that he initiated in Hyderabad, and other parts of both the Telugu states, the TDP leader spoke about how his hard work has yielded results. "I have struggled to make Hyderabad an information technology (IT) corridor so that the youth could get better employment and earn more. Now, you all know how the youth in the Telugu states are getting jobs, not only in the country but across the globe," he said.
Stating that it was the TDP that encouraged the Backward Classes (BCs) to foray into politics, Naidu claimed that the party’s founder NTR was responsible for several persons joining politics who are now among the most renowned leaders in both the Telugu states. Maintaining that the TDP is completing 40 years and will make a new beginning for a better future, the former Chief Minister called upon the public and the party leaders in Telangana to work hard for regaining the past glory of TDP.
"We now need to bring back the fame and reputation of the TDP as people want the state to progress," Naidu said. Stating that it is only the TDP which will remain permanently in the hearts of the people, the party chief said that TDP took its birth in Hyderabad, the heartland of Telangana. He claimed that Cyberabad, the Hitech City and the Genome Valley in Hyderabad were all established with his vision and recalled how he managed to have a meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates which gave birth to the Hitech City.
Naidu said that he made several visits to Khammam earlier but now he is coming to the town after a long gap. He asked the public whether they want the TDP to lead the state again. The former Chief Minister also said that the large gathering for the meeting was a fitting reply to those who say that the TDP no longer exists in Telangana. "I want to see both the Telugu states be on top in the country," Naidu said.
Though the party does not have any representatives in Khammam, Naidu said he is quite happy to see the huge gathering for his meeting. He also hoped that the leaders who had earlier deserted the TDP would soon come back. "The people here are recalling the developmental works taken up during the TDP regime, which is a clear indication that they want the party to return with flying colours," Naidu said.
Recently, YSR Telangana Party president YS Sharmila announced that she will be contesting from the Palair constituency in Khammam district in the Assembly elections next year.