As he turned 72 on Wednesday, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu is gearing up for another electoral battle in his long chequered career.

Nearly three years after suffering his worst-ever electoral defeat, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief appears to be down but not out as he looks to infuse new energy into the party for the 2024 poll battle.

Leading the charge against Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government, the veteran leader aims to make another comeback to power.

Though facing perhaps the toughest challenge of his four-decade-long political career, Naidu continues to be the tallest opposition figure who can take on Jagan Mohan Reddy, a leader 22 years younger to him.

As the leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh Assembly, he is leading from front the fight against the ‘misrule’ of YSRCP. Backed by a strong cadre at the grassroots level, he is helming the TDP’s fight against the YSRCP government’s ‘corruption’, ‘anti-people policies’ and ‘atrocities’.

With two years to go for the polls and Jana Sena led by actor politician Pawan Kalyan and BJP yet to have a strong presence on the ground, Naidu seems to be the only one who can give Jagan Mohan Reddy a run for his money.

On his 72nd birthday, Naidu said that he is working to restore the glory of Telugu people. He visited Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada, seeking blessings and strength to carry on what he calls the fight on behalf of people.

Thanking people for celebrating his birthday, Naidu assured them that he would carry forward the party by working as per their expectations. Determined to be steadfast in this fight, he is confident of a victory.

Political observers say 2024 could be a do or die battle for him. If he makes a comeback as the chief minister, he can groom his son Nara Lokesh as his political successor but if he fails, it could well be the end of the road for him.

Naidu’s four-decade-long career saw his political pendulum swinging wildly from left to right. In 2019, he exercised even his last option — aligning with the Congress but this gamble could not save him.

He not only lost power in the state but became irrelevant in the national politics as his friend-turned-rival Narendra Modi retained power at the Centre with a huge majority.

Desperate to stop Modi, Naidu was holding extensive deliberations with regional parties across the country to forge an anti-BJP alliance. He wanted to achieve what he did in 1996, when as the convenor of the United Front (UF) he brought together regional parties to prop up the government of the third alternative. In 1999, he donned a similar role for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

A shrewd politician, Naidu was also seen as rank opportunist as he aligned with the BJP, apparently to ride on the Vajpayee wave. He succeeded in retaining power, which he got in 1995 after leading a revolt against his father-in-law and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao.

Then known as the poster boy of new economic reforms, a reformist and a tech-savvy leader, Naidu mastered the skills of doing business with any formation at the Centre, irrespective of its ideology.

After losing power to his bete noire Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) in 2004 following a record 9-year stint as Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Naidu admitted his priorities were lop-sided which led to the neglect of agriculture in the state.

So he promised a slew of freebies in the 2009 elections, but the people remained unconvinced and gave YSR a fresh mandate.

The emergence of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate in 2014 offered Naidu a chance to revive his political fortunes.

He not only joined the NDA once again but by campaigning with Modi, he succeeded in storming to power in the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh, as people preferred him, apparently for his experience in developing Hyderabad as a tech hub.

As a leader who always enjoyed the role of a kingmaker and extracted his pound of flesh from the government at the Centre, Naidu was uncomfortable in the new dispensation where Modi had absolute majority.

Though facing post-bifurcation challenges like lack of state capital and poor finances, he had no option, but to quietly accept whatever was doled out to the state.

However, it was when YSR’s son and the chief of the YSRCP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy started targetting him for his compromise over the Special Category Status (SCS) that Naidu realised how he was losing the ground to the opposition. In 2018, he pulled out of the NDA government accusing Modi of ‘betrayal’.

From a great admirer of Modi, Naidu soon turned into his worst critic and even joined hands with the Congress, his party’s sworn enemy of 35 years. This was Naidu’s biggest political misadventure.

His experiment ended in a disaster with the Congress-led United People’s Alliance (UPA) biting the dust.

Ironically, Naidu began his political career with the Congress party. At the age of 28, he was elected to Assembly from Chandragiri constituency in his native district Chittoor and became a minister in the state cabinet (1980-83)

When his father-in-law and popular actor N. T. Rama Rao floated TDP, Naidu was with the Congress and had even thrown a challenge at the former. The TDP wave in 1983 nearly wiped out Congress and Naidu too failed to re-elect to the Assembly.

Later, NTR admitted Naidu into TDP and since then he never looked back. Making a modest beginning in NTR dominant TDP, he climbed to the position of party general secretary.

In 1995, a few months after NTR led TDP back to power with a landslide victory, Naidu staged a revolt against father-in-law to become chief minister. NTR’s children backed Naidu as they were also unhappy over growing interference by his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi in administration and party affairs.

NTR, who accused Naidu of back-stabbing him, died of cardiac arrest in January 1996, dramatically changing the state’s political scene.

Since then Naidu has been heading TDP. He became the longest serving chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh (1995-2004). A decade later when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated to carve out Telangana as a new state, he made a new beginning as the first chief minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

TDP president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu advised the YSRCP Government to stop filing false cases and start reducing financial burdens on the people.

Naidu said that the people would not have any relief from tax burdens if the protesting TDP leaders are implicated in fabricated cases. The ruling party would not be able to eliminate public resentment by victimising those taking part in the TDP ‘Badude Badudu’ (squeeze) protests.

The TDP chief condemned the cases filed against party Telugu Yuvatha leader Chinna Mohan and 10 other activists at Kummarigunta village in Punganur assembly segment in Chittoor district. They were wrongly implicated just for raising their voice against the increased taxes and current charges.

Naidu said the ruling party leaders attacked the TDP cadres first and then filed reverse atrocities cases against them. The Government should immediately lift those cases and turn its focus on resolving people’s problems.

Chandrababu Naidu said the YSRCP Government should at least realise how the people were suffering on account of tax burdens. Instead of solving people’s problems, false cases were filed against the TDP protesters in the assembly segment of Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy.

The TDP chief lamented that the Government policies have made the lives of the people very difficult.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu had set his eyes on keeping the NRIs together with the party ahead of the 2024 general elections. He had already vowed to return to the AP Assembly only as chief minister. He did not attend the budget session keeping his word. Though his party MLAs attended the session, they were suspended every day.

Now, being outside the Assembly, Chandrababu Naidu wants to win the elections and form the government to be present in the House. Even if he wins but fails to form the government in the 2024 elections, going by his pledge, he may not enter the House.

With all these issues, Chandrababu Naidu is now focusing on the resourceful membership of the NRIs to support the party in the next elections. He had created a dedicated website – www.nritdp.com – for the NRIs to associate with the party.

Chandrababu Naidu had asked the NRIs settled in various countries to get their names registered with the portal and be part of the TDP. The NRIs could also post their activities on the portal and stay connected to the party leadership.

NRIs have played an important role in the party’s victory in 2014 elections. They have also played a crucial role during the 2019 elections. Several NRIs have stayed back in the state only to help the TDP leadership in the electioneering.

It is more important for the party to win the 2024 elections as Chandrababu Naidu has to enter the Assembly. Hence, every individual is important to the party. In fact, this is the reason why Chandrababu Naidu had already created a separate wing of young IT professionals. He created iTDP, in which hundreds of IT professionals are working.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said that his government would change some of the new districts to suit the requirements of the people. He said that the reorganisation of the districts was not done scientifically. He accused the present government of reorganising the districts to serve the political interests of the YSR Congress Party.

Chandrababu Naidu observed that scientific study was not done before publishing the draft notification of the districts. He said that the officials who executed the work did not visit the districts, did not meet the people to take their views.

He also criticised the government for ignoring the representations given by the people and the objections raised by them. He felt that the government should have held an all-party meeting and consulted the political parties before draft notification.

He found fault with the government reorganising the districts based on the Parliament and Assembly constituencies without following the existing structure of the districts and the aspirations of the people.

The TDP chief said that his government would make some changes after careful study. He said that some areas were included in new districts without taking into consideration the association of the people with those districts and the areas.

He felt that the districts and the district headquarters should have been decided based on the aspirations of the people and the representations given by them. He wondered whether the government had made any attempt to understand the attachment of the people to certain areas.

The TDP chief asserted that his party would come back to power in the 2024 general elections and he would form the government. He said that people are slowly turning against the government because of the failures of Jagan Mohan Reddy in the last three years in developing the state.

He said that Jagan had asked for one chance and people have given him. There would be no second chance to Jagan, he asserted.

TDP supremo N Chandrababu had denied that his government had ever purchased the spyware. He responded to the charge levelled by West Bengal chief minister Mamatha Benerji that Andhra Pradesh government during Chandrababu Naidu’s regime had purchased the Pegasus. She said that she had an offer to buy the spyware but did not go for it. She reportedly made this statement during her budget speech in the West Bengal Assembly early this week.

Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh was first to respond to the allegation as he was the minister for information technology when his father was the chief minister between 2014 and 2019.

The TDP chief, who interacted with the party leaders on Friday from his party office said that the allegation was baseless. The TDP had also circulated a reply of the State police to an RTI activist in which the DGP office said that they have ever purchased Pegasus.

Surprisingly, all political parties, including the ruling YSR Congress, are silent on the allegation against Naidu and his government. The YSR Congress leaders who leave no opportunity to target the TDP and its chief Chandrababu Naidu did not use it for the reasons known to them.

However, Chandrababu Naidu gave an explanation to his party leaders and brushed aside the allegation. Interestingly, Naidu and Mamatha are good friends and they have worked together in the 2019 general elections against the BJP-led NDA. While Mamatha continues to work for a national alternative to the NDA and UPA, Naidu had become silent and inactive in the national politics after his defeat in the 2019 general elections.

It is not known why Mamatha had made the allegation against her friend without any provocation.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday called on the families of 18 people who died allegedly after consuming illicitly distilled liquor in West Godavari district in the last one week.

Naidu met the families of the victims in Jangareddygudem town and gathered details from them about the incident.

Accompanied by some senior TDP leaders, Naidu visited the houses of the victims and consoled their families.

Naidu travelled by road from his residence at Undavalli in Amaravati to Jangareddygudem. People welcomed the leader of the opposition at several places enroute.

The TDP leader called the deaths of 18 people as murders by the government. He demanded that the government own responsibility for the incident and announce ex-gratia for the families of the victims.

Naidu said though the affected families have come out with details of how they lost their near and dear ones due to the illicitly distilled liquor, the government is claiming that they died due to ill-health.

Families of the victims claimed that they died after consumption of spurious contrymade liquor. Within hours after consuming the liquor, the victims complained of giddiness, vomiting, stomach ache and diarrohea. The victims were aged between 35 and 65 years.

Officials of the Revenue, Police, Excise, Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), Medical and Health departments conducted an inquiry into the cause of deaths.

According to officials, they died due to different reasons. They were suspected to be suffering from health problems like cardiac ailments and post-Covid complications.

TDP leaders alleged that ruling YSRCP leaders were carrying out illegal arrack and ganja selling activities. They expressed concern that cheap liquor was proving very harmful and taking a heavy toll on the health and lives of the people consuming it.

Meanwhile, minister for municipal administration Botsa Satyanarayana alleged that the opposition is trying to politicize the incident. He said the deaths in Jangareddygudem were not due to illicit liquor. He said such an incident would have led to a large number of deaths.

The minister slammed Naidu and other TDP leaders for making false propaganda on the issue. He, however, said the government is ready to make a statement in the Assembly on the issue.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu predicted that chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would go for early elections. He further asserted that the TDP would win with a big majority if elections are held at any time from now.

Chandrababu Naidu reacted after Jagan Mohan Reddy’s repeated speeches in the Assembly, cabinet and the International Women’s Day celebrations. He said that Jagan Mohan Reddy was following what TRS chief Chandrasekhar Rao had done in Telangana going for early polls in his first term.

The TDP chief said that Jagan Mohan Reddy was losing the confidence of the people with his failures in administration. He alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy had ruined the State’s economy in the last three years because of his inexperience.

Naidu further said that people of the state were repenting for having voted for Jagan Mohan Reddy. People have considered Jagan Mohan Reddy’s request for one term and have voted for the YSR Congress in the 2019 general elections.

The TDP chief said that the state had failed on all fronts in the last three years with Jagan Mohan Reddy messing up with the administration. The law and order in the state was completely ignored and people were suffering with the police excesses besides the activities of the anti-social elements.

The TDP chief made an appeal to the rank and file of the TDP to be ready to face the elections in the state and restore democracy. He also asserted that the state had to be put on the development track once again as Jagan had derailed it.

TDP chief and opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu is giving a clear screenplay for his party MLAs and MLCs for the current budget session. They acted as guided in the House during the Governor’s address to the joint session on the first day.

With over 40 years of experience in politics, over 14 years of experience as chief minister and 8 years of experience as Leader of Opposition, Chandrababu Naidu is well-versed with Legislative politics. His master stroke in January 2019 in the Legislative Council, gave no breathing time for chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party MLAs.

It was the greatest masterstroke that Jagan Mohan Reddy could not take when Naidu steered his MLCs in the Legislative Council to refer the three capitals bills to the select committee. The TDP had 33-members’ strength in the Legislative Council. Besides, the Council chairman post too was in the TDP’s hands those days.

Though, the TDP’s strength had come down in Legislative Council and his strength fell to 20 in Legislative Assembly, Naidu manages to have greater mileage whenever the Assembly is in session. This time, Naidu himself is not attending the session as he pledged to come back to the House only as chief minister.

With a lot of time on hand and able to watch the proceedings live, Naidu is guiding his MLAs and MLCs to corner the ruling party in every sitting.

The first day of the budget session was a real shocker for Jagan Mohan Reddy, who did not expect the TDP leaders to raise slogans against the Governor in the House, when the Governor was addressing the joint session. The chief minister could not hide his anger and had burst out at TDP deputy leader K Atchennaidu who attended the Business Advisory Committee meeting.