The Telugu Desam Party is planning to contest elections in 2019 as a national party, its president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-designate, N. Chandrababu Naidu declared this at the party’s annual conference, Mahanadu here on Tuesday.
Inaugurating the party meet, the last one in united Andhra Pradesh, at Gandipet on city outskirts, he said there was opportunity for the TDP to get recognition as a national party. He said the TDP needed to contest elections in five to six States and get a minimum six per cent vote share to be recognised as a national party.
The entire venue at Gandipet and the surrounding areas was dressed in yellow, the party colour as TDP flags were festooned at every nook and corner, even as hundreds of party delegates and leaders came in yellow attires.
Recalling the nine-year rule of TDP when he was the Chief Minister, he said many development initiatives had brought recognition to Andhra Pradesh. Referring to bifurcation of the State, he wanted equal justice to be done to people in both the regions. He said TDP was synonymous with development and that’s why people in Seemandhra gave majority to his party.
Mr.Naidu said the country’s prestige was lost due to “the inept rule” of the Congress-led UPA during the past 10 years and the rupee got weakened, while the prices of all essential commodities increased. All the institutions collapsed because of corruption. The fact that Congress did not even get Leader of Opposition status in the Lok Sabha showed how much people were against that party.
From the beginning, TDP was an anti-Congress party, he said and recalled how NTR had formed the National Front and brought all non-Congress parties together.
Hitting out at the Congress for failing to build a memorial for former Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao, he declared that he would take up with the NDA government at the Centre to erect a memorial in Delhi. “TDP will take up the responsibility”, he added.
He described as “good augury” the invitation of SAARC leaders to the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and faulted the Congress for not developing good ties with countries in India’s neighbourhood.
