Anna Telugu Desam Party

Anna Telugu Desam Party (ATDP) was a regional political party in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. ATDP was founded on January 27, 1999, by Nandamuri Harikrishna, the third son of the Telugu Desam Party founder N.T. Rama Rao.[1][2] N. Harikrishna held a revolt against the TDP leader N. Chandrababu Naidu.[3]

Anna Telugu Desam Party
PresidentNandamuri Harikrishna
FounderNandamuri Harikrishna
Founded1999
Election symbol
Lion[citation needed]

On January 28, 1999 Rajya Sabha MP Daggubati Venkateswara Rao left the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined ATDP.[4][5] Another Rajya Sabha MP, Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, also joined the party, giving ATDP two seats in the upper house of the Parliament of India.[4][6] ATDP held a single seat in the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh, represented by S. Madhusudhana Chary (previously belonging to the NTR-TDP).[6][1]

ATDP worked hard ahead of the 1999 Andhra Pradesh assembly elections. An electoral alliance was set up with Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (who both had been TDP allies). A controversy surged within the alliance, due to ATDP line of wanting to ban foreign-born Sonia Gandhi from becoming prime minister. The left found that position unacceptable.[7][8][9] In total ATDP launched 191 candidates, but the result was a complete flop. The party got 371,718 votes (1.12% of the votes in the state), but could not win a single seat.

In the Lok Sabha elections the same year the party launched 20 candidates, and received 244,045 votes (0.73% of the votes in the state), but no seats were won.

References

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  1. ^ a b India Today. Harikrishna plays father NTR's pro-poor card to upstage CM Chandrababu Naidu's TDP
  2. ^ Pratiyogita Darpan (April 1999). Competition Science Vision. Pratiyogita Darpan. p. 152.
  3. ^ Meenu Roy (1 January 2000). Electoral politics in India: election process and outcomes, voting behaviour and current trends. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 185. ISBN 9788176292740.
  4. ^ a b Data India. Press Institute of India. 1999. p. 46.
  5. ^ rediff.com. Opinion poll shows Naidu's TDP retaining Andhra
  6. ^ a b rediff.com. NTR's second daughter may join politics
  7. ^ Ambrose Pinto; Indian Social Institute (2000). Vox populi 1999: analysis of parliamentary elections. Indian Social Institute. p. 68. ISBN 978-81-87218-22-7.
  8. ^ Selections from Regional Press. Institute of Regional Studies. 1999. p. 72.
  9. ^ The Telegraph. CPM SNAPS TIES WITH PAWAR-ALLY MULAYAM