In 2021, Chandrababu Naidu, leader of Telugu Desam, left the assembly after YSR Congress Party (YCP) MLAs insulted him and his family. He pledged to return only as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, achieving this goal by leading the TDP+ alliance to a 164-seat victory in the recent election.
Today, Naidu addressed the assembly for the first time since his victory, delivering a speech that balanced emotion with thoughtfulness. He recalled his nine terms in the assembly but emphasized that the recent term (2019-24) was unprecedented in its hostility.
Naidu expressed dismay that instead of focusing on governance, YCP MLAs had resorted to personal attacks on his family. He became emotional as he described the insults directed at his relatives by opposition members.
The seasoned politician assured that the turbulent times were now behind them. He promised to uphold the principles of democracy by conducting assembly sessions with transparency and integrity moving forward.
Naidu urged his alliance’s MLAs to refrain from mocking YCP members and reminded them of the previous term when YCP had taunted TDP with references to their reduced representation (“23 MLAs”).