Chandrababu Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party is sweeping the Andhra Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha polls as part of National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is likely to emerge as kingmaker at the national level.
The early trends showed that the NDA is crossing the majority mark, thanks to the TDP’s 14 Lok Sabha seats it is leading. The party contested 17 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats and it emerged that it has got support from across the state.
Of the 175 seats in state assembly, TDP was leading in 99 seats, its ally Jana Sena in 15, BJP five, taking the NDA total to 119 seats as compared to total decimation for Jagan Reddy led YSR Congress party, which as of now is bagging only 15 seats. He is set to return as the chief minister.
Chandrababu Naidu was part of the NDA government between 2014 and 2019. He left the NDA before 2019 Lok Sabha polls and joined the Congress lead UPA alliance to lose in both Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Soon after the loss, he distanced himself with the Congress and became part of NDA in March 2024, just a few days before the national elections were announced.
Five years down the line after being jailed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a corruption case in November 2023, Naidu has emerged strongly back at the hustings. Political experts said that his arrest ensued a sympathy for him and allegations of misgovernance and corruption against YSRCP MLAs worked in favour of the TDP.