TDP will respect people's verdict: Naidu

With the Congress-TDP 'People's Front' receiving a drubbing in the Telangana assembly elections, Telugu Desam party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday said his party would respect the people's verdict.

Naidu congratulated Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on leading his party to an emphatic victory.

"My compliments to Chandrasekhar Rao," Naidu said in a statement.

Besides the Congress and TDP, the People's Front ('Prajakutami') also comprised the TJS, and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

However, results of the elections to five state assemblies established that people were leaning towards an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Naidu, who has been making efforts to cobble an anti-BJP front, said.

The TDP walked out of the BJP-led NDA a few months ago over the Centre's refusal to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

"People of all states are antagonistic towards the BJP. Results of these assembly elections will enable formation of a strong alternative to the BJP in the 2019 general elections," he added.

He also extended his greetings to all newly elected MLAs in the five states--Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

The YSR Congress and Jana Sena president K Pawan Kalyan also congratulated the TRS over its victory in Telangana elections.

YSRC general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said TDP was totally wiped out in the Telangana polls.

"The same would repeat in Andhra Pradesh as well in the 2019 polls," Reddy said.

"Naidu employed every trick to win the elections in Telangana. He sought to make Telangana his (political) laboratory but failed miserably," Reddy said.