“Telugu Vaari Atma Gauravam” (self respect of the Telugu people) — this was the clarion call of the Telugu Desam Party, founded by beloved Telugu superstar Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao in March 1982, purportedly to counter the self-respect of the Telugu people being “bartered away in the streets of Delhi,” in his words.
Within nine months of floating the party, NTR, as he is popularly known, went on to sweep the 1983 Assembly elections in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh, bringing to an end 27 years of rule by the Congress. On January 9, 1983, N.T Rama Rao took over as the first non-Congress Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The debutant TDP won a massive 201 out of a total 294 seats, riding on the popular Telugu pride sentiment, while the Congress was reduced to just 60 seats from the 175 it had won in the 1978 elections.
