Amravati: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president, N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday (May 23), said that he accepted the verdict of the people of Andhra Pradesh and decided to resign as chief minister. He congratulated the YSR Congress on its victory in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Naidu submitted his resignation to the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan who accepted it, a Raj Bhavan press communique said.

 "Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, submitted his resignation to the Governor. The Hon'ble Governor while accepting the resignation with effect from the afternoon today, requested Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu to continue in office till the formation of a new government," it said.

Following his defeat, Naidu congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik over their electoral victories. 

"Elections are over, results have come. In a democracy, it is our responsibility to accept people’s verdict. I congratulate YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy on his party's victory," Naidu said at a press conference.

Before deciding to resign, Naidu said that the TDP would review the results and announce the future course of action.

The TDP that won 102 Assembly seats in 2014, now bagged a mere 24 seats in the 175-member state Assembly as the main opposition YSR Congress headed for a landslide victory with 150 seats.

While the TDP contested the 2014 election in alliance with the BJP and outside support of the Jana Sena, it fought the 2019 general elections on its own and faced a rout.