Rama Rao formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on 29 March 1982. While promoting a new film, he was asked a question by a person in the audience Ayya, memu mimmalni devudu laga adarinchamu, kani meeru maku emi chesaru? meaning Sir, we have treated you like a God but what have you done for us?.[4] He was so moved by this that he formed TDP, and with a victory in the immediate election, formed the government and ruled the state of Andhra Pradesh for a full term. He went into the elections with the slogan Atma Gauravam which meant "self-pride."
Like his films, the formation of the party and storming into the assembly was very dramatic. TDP came into power within nine months of its formation. Initially ridiculed by the Congress that state politics is not like movie acting among others, TDP was considered a no match for the Indian National Congress, with the local representatives unheard of, the complete burden rested on the shoulders of NTR, and true to his charisma he won the elections with a landslide majority. Among other reasons why he won the elections was no real alternative to the Congress, lack of development, unemployment etc. NTR himself contested elections from the constituency of Hindupur in Anantapur District and Gudivada in Krishna district.
During the first term as Chief Minister of AP, he got into the costumes of Swami Vivekananda and tried to govern the entire state solely on ideological terms which later proved to be disastrous. On Independence day, August 15, 1984, he was removed from office by the Governor of AP in view of a revolt by his aide and 2nd in command Nadendla Bhaskara Rao. NTR launched his chaitanya ratham (back to the people agitation) on the third day after his open heart surgery and the public agitation he inspired caused the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi to dismiss the then Governor Ramlal, and appointed Shankar Dayal Sharma. Nadendla Bhaskara Rao could not prove his majority in the assembly in one month's time. Shankar Dayal Sharma handed power back to NTR. NTR then dissolved the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly and asked for a fresh mandate in 1985.
He returned to power, among the most significant changes he made was to abolish the Legislative Council of the Andhra Pradesh citing the reason that it was a non-performing body which was just a burden on the state exchequer. NTR introduced administrative reforms that strengthened local governance and strengthened the Jilla parishad system. He introduced management reforms that held corrupt government offices accountable to elected representatives. The death of his wife, marathon of activities that started with chaitanya ratham, culminated in large scale administrative reforms left his health in poor shape with a mild stroke and unable to campaign in the next election. NTR lost the subsequent elections held in 1989, but during the same period he gained valuable experience and had people like N. Chandrababu Naidu and Daggubati Venkateswara Rao (both sons-in-law) in his party.
Other contributions of NTR included the educational reforms he brought about in the state, where he overhauled the entire state's education syllabus for schools. He instituted statewide entrance examinations for all disciplines of higher education vis-à-vis Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, and MBA to name a few. Students, based on the merit of their ranks obtained in these tests, could join any state college of their choice. These education reforms laid the foundation for the coming high-tech era for Andhra. NTR created a new commando force for the state and was very successful in combating naxalism both ideologically and militarily. Communal rioting in Hyderabad had been put rest for good during his term. Vizag steel plant which had been struggling since its foundation went online during his tern in no small part due to his active lobbying with the central government. He recruited worldwide medical talent and improved higher end medical capabilities of the capital city and founded a medical university in Vijayawada. He reformed the administration of Tirupathi and converted it into a modern tourist attraction. He did away with the feudal munusobu and karanam system to empower elected leaders of the local government. The state government introduced entrance exams for vedic subjects and opened up priest positions in temple to non-inherited candidates. He built the largest bus station in Asia, commissioned the largest Budha statue in the world at the time to high light the Budhist heritage and history of Andhra. He adorned TankBund with the statues of great Telugus of the past creating a sense of heritage. He guaranteed one light bulb per house hold to give educational opportunities to the lowest economic class of rural Andhra. This led to a rise in electric consumption that resulted in Andhra going from a net electricity exporter to an importer despite production gains. He reformed water distribution system from the major water reservoirs in the state by giving farmer organizations (raitu sangam) a say in planning. The telugu desam party operations were significantly computerized and a systematic local party structure was built and this resulted in the establishment of a stable second political party that survived his death. NTR introduced the concept of strong states with strong centre in his discussions about state power with Mrs. Gandhi and ushered in a new era of empowered local governments, within the framework of India. The long held belief that strong states imply a weak and collapsing country is no more a political dogma that governs center state relations in India. He also lobbied and won the amendment of Hindu inheritance laws to give women equal inheritance rights. He introduced the first social net program in India with Rs2/kg rice scheme. While Andhra Pradesh was one of the largest producers of rice in the world, its rural agricultural labor often went to bed hungry due to a food disribution system that was centrally controlled and often corrupt and in-efficient. This program was narrowly targeted at families with monthly income of Rs500 ($12 per month or 40 cents a day) or less and played a key role in reducing government induced hunger in the rice bowl of the world. This social net program was later extended to include free food for primary school children in government schools for the same income group and that scheme encouraged the single biggest drop in child labor and increase in primary school enrollment. The despicable scourge of pre-teen children working for their daily food next to cattle and machinery started receding thanks to this program. All the major state subsidies like free bachelors degree education, free rail tickets for railway employees, free telephones for telecom employees, free electricity for electricity employees, free medical care for medical employees, free loans for bank employees, free housing for govt employees were till that date targeted at the rich and the new social net programs aimed at the poorest and the most hard working of the poor were a big political success.
It is noteworthy that though he didn't know Hindi, yet gave a speech for forty-five minutes in a packed stadium in Haryana. He later revealed that he had memorized the speech phonetically. Devi Lal, a Deputy Prime Minister of India was shocked to learn this.
Even though he lost the 1989 elections, he shot to fame at the national level and was capable of uniting many regional parties. He formed the National Front with parties like Janata Dal , Bharateeya Janata Party, CPI and CPM as an alternative to the Congress.
NTR announced that he second marriage to Lakshmi Parvathy. NTR stormed back to power in 1994 when he promised he would offer rice at Rs. 2/kg and to make Andhra Pradesh an "Alcohol-Free" state. True to his word he kept his promises only to burden the state exchequer.
The loss of power and the subsequent events can be summed up as the start of anti-climax in NTR's life. NTR died on 18 January 1996.
