TDP shifts party HQ base to Guntur

NTR Trust Bhavan, the iconic building in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills that remained the epicentre of Telugu Desam Party’s activities for over two decades, would soon lose its headquarters status.

Party supremo and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has asked a majority of staff to leave the building by April 22 as it shifts its base to Guntur, closer to the upcoming capital city of Amaravati.

While the Guntur office will become active from April 24, the party would move to Amaravati once the new building there is complete.

The decision to draw curtains over the Hyderabad headquarters was taken after Naidu moved to Amaravati and has plans to move the Secretariat and Assembly from here by June.

The NTR Bhavan would, however, continue to house the Trust and small number
of Telangana TDP functionaries.

“All the 120 member staff except 30 employees belonging to Telangana will have to
relocate to Guntur or Vijayawada. The Central office in Guntur will be inaugurated by 24 or 29 April,” a NTR Trust staffer said.

However, many of the party staffers working in the information department and library find it harder to shift to the new headquarters due to the skyrocketing rents there.

Built in a two-acre land in the posh Banjara Hills locality closer to the LV Prasad Eye Institute, NTR Bhavan has seen the highs of Naidu, as he helmed the united Andhra Pradesh as chief minister.

Built by L&T, it has a media centre, modern library, canteen and dormitory and a fully equipped gym. Naidu has always conducted state level meetings at the spacious basement auditorium.

Two more floors were added to the building when Naidu was the opposition leader. Party chief’s office in the first floor is bullet proof, while all the rooms have LED TV connections.
Ironically, Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao’s words that the NTR Bhavan would become empty after bifurcation has come true.