Telugu Desam Party
The Telugu Desam Party (;  TDP) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N. T. Rama Rao (N.T.R.) on 29 March 1982 and has focused on supporting Telugu speakers. The party has won a five-time majority in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. From 1 September 1995, the TDP was led by N.T.R. 's son-in-law and the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu as president of the party. The headquarters of the party is called N.T.R. Bhavan, which is located at Mangalagiri, Guntur. Ideology and symbolism
The Telugu Desam Party follows a pro-Telugu ideology. It was founded as an alternative to the Congress hegemony, by emphasizing Telugu regional pride and serving as the party for farmers, backward castes and middle-class people. Since the 1990s, it has followed an economically liberal policy that has been seen as pro-business and pro-development. The TDP uses yellow as the background colour for the flag with a hut, wheel and plough symbol in the foreground. The party's official symbol is a bicycle. Health insurance scheme
Since 2014, every active member is eligible for a life insurance policy of ₹2 lakh to be paid to their family in cases of death or permanent total disability, such as the loss of two limbs of eyes, due to accidents, with additional payouts of ₹5,000 per child (up to two) for educational costs. Active members are also reimbursed for up to ₹50,000 to cover hospital treatment from such accidents. History

N. T. Rama Rao Era (1983–1995) 

As a film actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) is a well-known name not only to the Telugu people but also to the entire country. On November 18, 1977, near Diviseema in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, the sea became turbulent and the Pralaya cyclone that crossed the coast at once caused great destruction to the villages. Thousands of people lost their lives in Horugali and Rakasi waves. The rotting bodies were mass cremated. Officially 14,204 people and unofficially about 50,000 lost their lives in the devastation caused by this typhoon. About 20 thousand acres of crops were damaged. Apart from this, property damage is also estimated to be in crores. People still get excited when they remember that Diviseema was flooded. Film actor NTR, who was shocked by the situation at that time, he took the support of entire film industry by saying that he should stand by the people of Divisea. NTR came to streets and beg everyone to help divisema people. The money donated by people was used to rehabilitate the people of Diviseema. TDP party was founded thinking that we should stand by the people of the state who are struggling with many such problems and put a political party to stand by the people. The party was formed on 29 March 1982 and contested the 1983 elections. The people of Andhra Pradesh, who were fed up with the Congress government which had been ruling for 36 years, gave a great victory to the TDP party in the 1983 elections. On 9 January 1983, NTR was sworn in as the 7th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. On 16 August 1984, when NTR went to America for the operation, Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, one of the MLAs of the TDP party, took the oath of office with the Governor along with his MLAs as the Chief Minister. On 16 September 1984, NTR along with his MLAs went to Delhi and held a march and dharna against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Then NTR was once again sworn in as the Chief Minister. N. Chandrababu Naidu Era (1995–present)

Election history

Lok Sabha election history 
The total number of Lok Sabha seats in (previously undivided) Andhra Pradesh (1956-2014) was 42. After the 2014 bifurcation of the state, there are 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. The National United Front was formed with N. T. Rama Rao as chairperson. Under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu the NDA government was formed with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of India. The TDP had G. M. C. Balayogi as the 12th Speaker of the Lok Sabha. TDP was the second largest party in 1984 Indian General Elections, winning 30 seats with 4.31% of votes, thus achieving the distinction of becoming the first regional party to become a national opposition party. However, in the next election they were reduced to only 2 seats out of 42 contested, which has to this day remained the biggest defeat for the party. State legislative assembly elections

List of party leaders

National Presidents

Presidents

Legislative leaders

List of union cabinet ministers

List of chief ministers

List of speakers of the Lok Sabha

