Telangana TDP chief resigns following party's election withdrawal

Hyderabad: Kasani Gnaneswar, the President of the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) Telangana unit, has announced his resignation from the party after the TDP decided not to participate in the state's assembly polls scheduled for November 30.

Gnaneswar expressed deep disappointment with the party's leadership, which led to his decision.

During a press conference, Gnaneswar explained his resignation, stating, "We were fully prepared to contest in the polls. There was no response (from the top leadership of the TDP) as to why the party is not contesting in the polls. We cannot do injustice to the party cadre being in the party. So I decided to resign from the party."

He added that he would hold discussions with his followers to determine his next course of action.

The TDP's decision not to contest in the elections was conveyed to Gnaneswar when he met former chief minister and TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu at the Rajamahendravaram central prison in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu is currently under judicial remand for alleged misappropriation of funds from the AP Skill Development Corporation, resulting in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.

The TDP, which won only two seats in the 2018 Telangana assembly polls, garnered 3.51% of the votes in the last elections. In the previous assembly elections, the TDP had a pre-poll alliance with the Congress and CPI.

The Janasena party, led by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, an NDA partner, has announced a list of 32 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Telangana.