On March 29, 1982, N.T. Rama Rao founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Subsequently, NTR embarked on a statewide tour advocating for the self-respect of Telugu people and criticizing the policies of the incumbent Congress party.
Following a significant victory in the 1983 elections, N.T.R. was inaugurated as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on January 9, 1983.
However, in a dramatic turn of events in August 1984, NTR was ousted from power through a cooperative effort between then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, and then Governor Thakur Ramlal. Nadendla Bhaskar Rao briefly assumed the role of Chief Minister.
Bhaskar Rao’s tenure as Chief Minister lasted from August 16 to September 16, 1984. During this period, NTR conducted a nationwide tour to rally support for his reinstatement. His efforts paid off when he was reinstated as Chief Minister on September 16, 1984, backed by several national parties.
In the 8th Lok Sabha elections held in December 1984, the Telugu Desam Party won 30 seats, establishing itself as the main opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
Following a decisive victory, NTR led the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to win 202 seats in the 1985 State Legislative Assembly elections, resulting in his re-election as Chief Minister.
In 1989, the TDP was defeated, and the Congress party returned to power.
The TDP regained power in the 1994 assembly elections, with NTR once again assuming the role of Chief Minister.
On September 1, 1995, Chandra Babu Naidu, leveraging a majority of TDP MLAs, successfully challenged NTR’s leadership and took over as Chief Minister.
In response to these developments, NTR’s second wife, Lakshmi Parvati, established the “NTR TDP party.”
Initially, the TDP under NTR campaigned against the formation of Telangana, promoting a unified Telugu identity to counter the Telangana statehood movement.
In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, the TDP allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Although the NDA, following the BJP’s Kakinada resolution, facilitated the creation of three new states in 2000, Chandra Babu Naidu’s TDP resisted the formation of Telangana, threatening to withdraw support from the NDA if Telangana was formed.
Amidst these political tensions, K. Chandra Shekhar Rao resigned as Deputy Speaker and founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001, intensifying the push for Telangana statehood and increasing pressure on Chandra Babu Naidu.
During this time, dissatisfaction among Telangana employees grew due to delays in implementing Government Order 610, which NTR had issued.
To address this, the J.M. Girglani Commission was appointed to study the implementation of G.O. 610, submitting its initial report on October 6, 2001, and its final report on September 30, 2004.
State legislative elections in 2004 were conducted in two phases.
During the first phase of elections in the Telangana region, Chandra Babu Naidu campaigned in the Andhra region, claiming that the formation of Telangana would lead to the construction of dams on the Godavari, potentially depriving the delta region of water and turning Coastal Andhra into a desert.
The Congress party emerged victorious in the 2004 elections.
Leaders and activists from the Telangana Telugu Desam Party exerted significant pressure on the party leadership to adopt a more favorable stance on the Telangana issue, although the leadership was cautious, considering it a sensitive matter that might provoke opposition from other regions.
As a compromise, Chandra Babu Naidu proposed the “two-eye theory,” likening the Telangana and Seemandhra regions to his two eyes, emphasizing the importance of not causing harm to either region.
Approaching the 2009 elections and mindful of the losses in 2004, Naidu shifted his stance to support the formation of a Telangana state to gain electoral support in the region.
In 2008, leading up to the general elections, Devender Goud, a prominent TDP leader, left the party to form the “Nava Telangana Party.”
Facing these political dynamics, Chandra Babu Naidu felt compelled to support the creation of Telangana to bolster his party’s prospects in the region and potentially regain power.
In October 2008, despite believing the Congress party might not follow through, the TDP officially declared support for the formation of Telangana in a letter to the Pranab Mukherjee Sub-committee established by the UPA.
This led to increased involvement from Telangana’s TDP leaders and activists in various protests and campaigns advocating for statehood.
In the 2009 elections, the TDP contested as part of the Mahakutami (Grand Alliance), which ultimately did not succeed in securing the elections.
Triggered by KCR’s fast unto death, then Chief Minister Rosaiah called for an all-party meeting on December 7, 2009, during which the Telugu Desam Party expressed its support for the creation of a separate Telangana state.
Following a supportive statement for Telangana by Chidambaram on December 9th, Chandra Babu Naidu played a key role in the United Andhra agitation.
On December 24, 2009, TDP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy was attacked by students when he visited Osmania University to support the ongoing hunger strike.
The TDP representatives at the all-party meeting convened by the Central government on January 5, 2010, included Revuri Prakash Reddy from Telangana and Yanamala Ramkrishnudu from Andhra.
In 2014, when the Telangana bill was introduced in the State Assembly and Parliament, the TDP leaders of Telangana region supported Telangana formation and Andhra leaders supported United Andhra Pradesh.
