Chandrababu Naidu’s journey: A timeline of the NDA ‘kingmaker’ and Andhra’s longest-serving CM

N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently playing ‘kingmaker’ in the third Modi government, has made a stellar comeback in Andhra Pradesh.

Trouncing the incumbent YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in a clean sweep in the 2024 Assembly polls, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu is set to take oath as Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister on June 12, its second since the State was bifurcated. The 75-year-old politician, who is currently playing ‘kingmaker’ in the third Modi government, has made a stellar comeback in the State. Winning sixteen of the State’s twenty-five Lok Sabha seats and 135 of 175 Assembly seats, Mr. Naidu has emerged as the BJP’s strongest ally in the NDA, playing a pivotal role in the formation of the next government.

Thanking the public for the mandate, Mr. Naidu said, “The TDP and its allies (BJP and Jana Sena Party) now have the onerous responsibility of fulfilling the people’s aspirations. The immediate task was to set the house in order as the economy was teetering on the brink of collapse with huge sums going into debt servicing, natural resources were plundered and so many bad things happened in the last five years,” while addressing reporters at his residence near Vijaywada.

Since 1978, when he was first elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Mr. Naidu’s rise in politics has been meteoric till 2019. And he has now re-emerged in 2024.

Here’s a look at the journey of Andhra Pradesh’s longest-serving Chief Minister:

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, a young graduate from Tirupati’s Sri Venkateswara University, joined the Indian Youth Congress in 1974. Impressed with then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency, he began canvassing for the party in Andhra Pradesh. Soon, in 1978, he was given a Congress ticket for the Chandragiri Assembly, under the party’s 20% quota reserved for youth candidates. With the guidance of Professor NG Ranga – freedom fighter and Swatantra Party founder and financial aide from his family, Mr. Naidu raised funds for his maiden electoral campaign. After his poll victory, he was a part of the upcoming clan of Congress leaders called the ‘Young Turks’ and was inducted in the T Anjaiah ministry.

His political fortunes took a turn when he met superstar Nandamuri Taraka Ramo Rao (NTR) and a marriage was arranged between the actor’s second daughter Bhuvaneswari and the young minister in 1981.

Attacking the Congress High Command for hurting ‘Telugu self-respect’ by changing five CMs between 1978 and 1982, NTR launched the TDP on March 1982. Vowing to ‘counter the barter of Telugu pride in the streets of Delhi’, NTR swept the State’s Assembly polls in 1983, winning 201 of 294 seats, ushering in NTR’s first term as CM. In this election, Mr. Naidu, who was still in the Congress, was defeated from Chandragiri. Soon, he switched alliances to the TDP on NTR’s command.