TDP promises to give 33% tickets to women in 2029 Assembly polls as 'Hybrid Mahanadu' gets underway

Hyderabad: The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh has proposed 33% reservation for women within the party for the 2029 Assembly Elections.

The announcement was made on the first day of Mahanadu 2026 the party's annual plenary held on Wednesday, with this year's edition themed around "Stree Shakti."

The move is being widely seen as a significant political and ideological commitment to women-led leadership and gender equality in Indian politics, particularly at a time when the Women's Reservation Bill continues to face headwinds in Parliament.

Making the proposal in his maiden speech as the party's Working President, IT Minister Nara Lokesh said he firmly believes that the next era of Indian politics must belong to women. He noted that the NDA government had already taken a landmark step by introducing the Women's Reservation Bill, and stressed that women must transition from being mere beneficiaries of welfare schemes to becoming active decision-makers in governance and politics. The announcement builds on recent steps within the party's own organisational structure, including the appointment of MP Byreddy Shabari as TDP's first woman National General Secretary a move widely regarded as part of the party's broader push to strengthen women's leadership at every level.

He said opposition parties had attempted to create obstacles to women empowerment by rejecting the Women’s Reservation Bill. In contrast, he asserted that the Telugu Desam Party believes in empowerment both in principle and in practice .

Calling for decisive action, Lokesh said that TDP should lead from the front. From the Mahanadu stage, he proposed that the Telugu Desam Party allocate 33% seats to women in the 2029 Elections. He described it not as a slogan, but as a commitment to the future of India.

Minister Lokesh further stated that the country needs more women lawmakers, women leaders and women policymakers. He said the future of the Telugu Desam Party would be led shoulder to shoulder by women and termed the proposal as the party’s resolve, responsibility and commitment towards building a stronger and more inclusive political future.

Also TDP's Hybrid Mahanadu 2026 is emerging not merely as a political convention, but as a large-scale demonstration of grassroots digital mobilisation and technology-led organisational management.

In line with the prevailing energy crisis owing to crisis in west Asia, TDP had changed its plans to organise a mega event of Mahanadu with around 10 lakh people drawn from parts of the state at Nellore. Now, Mahanadu is being held in hybrid mode.

Party leaders said the hybrid architecture was designed to make participation more inclusive, scalable and cost-efficient while enabling real-time engagement from across Andhra Pradesh.

According to party leaders, more than seven lakh cadres participated through a combination of physical attendance and digitally connected cluster centres established across the state.

One of the key pillars of the initiative was the creation of approximately 1,875 digitally connected “Mahanadu Cluster Centres” spread across constituencies and mandals.

Instead of requiring every cadre member to travel to the main venue, localised participation hubs were created with LED screens, internet connectivity, audio systems and live-streaming infrastructure. The centres enabled cadres from rural and semi-urban regions to watch speeches, participate in discussions and vote on resolutions in real time.

Party leaders said the model significantly reduced transportation and accommodation pressures while increasing participation from women, senior citizens and grassroots workers who may otherwise not travel long distances.

TDP also deployed a GPS-enabled digital invitation system integrated through the MyTDP platform. Cadres reportedly received personalised invitations that automatically mapped them to their nearest participation centre using geolocation technology. Officials said this reduced confusion, avoided overcrowding at select venues and enabled better crowd distribution management. The system also generated digital attendance records and participation analytics constituency-wise.

At the heart of the Hybrid Mahanadu model was a central command-and-control centre established to monitor and coordinate the event statewide in real time.

The control room reportedly tracked live feeds from cluster centres, streaming uptime, attendance flows, bandwidth stability and engagement metrics across districts. Dedicated technical teams monitored connectivity disruptions and coordinated rapid troubleshooting support wherever required.