Telugu Desam Party, the opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, has entered 40th year of its foundation on Monday.
It was four decades ago this day that legendary actor N T Rama Rao announced the launch of the party at the Old MLA Quarters to fight for the self-respect of the Telugus.
No doubt, the TDP has created a history in the Andhra Pradesh politics in the last four decades.
It was founded at a time when the Congress party was reigning supreme across the country and was looking down upon the states.
There were not many regional parties at that time, except DMK, All India Anna DMK, Assam Gana Parishad etc.
The TDP stormed the Andhra Pradesh politics and decimated the decades-long Congress rule in the state. Not only that, it played a major role in the formation of anti-Congress fronts at the national level.
But there is an expiry period for any such party, which is essentially dominated by one family.
Wherever people found that the party is suffering from leadership crisis, they looked for an alternative powerful political force. Even the century-old Congress party is no exception.
Samajwadi Party which once dominated the Uttar Pradesh politics is now struggling to survive in its own bastion. So is the case with the BSP. In West Bengal, too, the people are looking for an alternative to the Trinamul Congress.
In the process, new parties and new forces will emerge. In Andhra Pradesh, after the Congress disappeared from the political firmament post-bition, the TDP managed to come to power in 2014 but within five years, it lost the people’s confidence, as they found a real alternative in YSR Congress party.
So, in 2019, they voted the YSRCP to power with huge mandate and the TDP has begun losing its grip.
Following the latest debacle in the panchayat raj and municipal elections, the TDP was completely decimated, indicating that the people have lost their faith in it.
So, as the TDP enters its 40th year, it is facing an existential crisis. With TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu fast losing his hold over the party and his son Lokesh Naidu turning out to be ineffective, the discussion on whether the TDP will survive in the coming days is gaining ground.
Yet, with TDP having such a strong cadre base and financial backing of the powerful community, it may be too early to write off the party just like that.
But how long it can survive and whether there will be a wind of change in the party that will rejuvenate the party are the questions that need to find answers.
