The 1983 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election was held on 5 January, having been preponed from its originally scheduled date in August 1983.The results were announced on 7 January 1983. The election was held to elect all 294 members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

The election was swept by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a regional party formed in March 1982, nine months ahead the election by the Indian film actor N. T. Rama Rao (NTR). The TDP won a historic 201 seats and formed the first non-Congress government in the state since its formation in 1956. NTR was sworn in as the 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 9 January 1983, becoming the first non-Congress chief minister of the state.

Background Following the Emergency and the subsequent 1977 Indian general election, Indira Gandhi and the Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) suffered a major electoral defeat all over India but managed to sweep the state of state of Andhra Pradesh with securing 41 out of 42 Lok Sabha constituencies. In 1978, Indira Gandhi formed a breakaway faction known as the Indian National Congress (Indira), popularly known as Congress, which rapidly regained political prominence. The party achieved a sweeping victory in the 1978 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, while the Janata Party emerged as the principle opposition in the state. Congress subsequently returned to the power nationally in the 1980 Indian general election under the leadership of Indira Gandhi.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Central Government's repeated use of Article 356 of the Constitution of India attracted criticism from opposition parties and constitutional scholars, who argued that it weakened federalism and democratic autonomy by allowing the dismissal of elected state governments through the imposition of President's rule. In Andhra Pradesh, political instability within the Congress government further contributed to public dissatisfaction. In 1982 alone, Andhra Pradesh witnessed three different Chief Ministers within the span of a single year, with Tanguturi Anjaiah serving until February, being succeeded by Bhavanam Venkatarami Reddy until September, who was later replaced by Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy. These frequent changes reinforced the perception that the state leadership was heavily dependant on the Congress high command in New Delhi rather than on an independent state-level mandate.

A political controversy occurred in 1982 at Begumpet Airport during the private visit of Rajiv Gandhi to Hyderabad, who was then serving as the general secretary of the Congress part. Chief Minister Tanguturi Anjaiah has organised an elaborate reception for Rajiv Gandhi, attended by ministers, party workers and cultural performers. Contemporary reports stated that Rajiv Gandhi criticised the arrangements and airport protocol, leading to allegations that Tanguturi Anjaiah had been publicly humiliated in front of party leaders and officials.

Formation of the Telugu Desam Party

Growing political instability in the state and increasing regional sentiment during the early 1980s contributed to the rise of a regional alternative to the Congress. A Telugu film actor N. T. Rama Rao, populary known as NTR founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on 29 March 1982 in Hyderabad, then the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Before entering politics, NTR was one of the most popular actors in Telugu cinema and had taken part in relief and fundraising efforts following the 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone. The party was founded on the idea of Telugu Vari Atma Gouravam (), calling for greater respect for Telugu people, stronger powers for states within India's federal system and an alternative to Congress rule in Andhra Pradesh.

After its formation, the TDP carried out a statewide campaign led by NTR in the Chaitanya Ratham (), a specially modified vehicle driven by his son, Nandamuri Harikrishna, from which he addressed public meetings across the state. The party promised rice at Rs. 2 per kilogram for poor households and subsidised electricity for farmers at a flat rate of Rs. 50 per horsepower per annum.

The TDP gave election tickets to many first-time candidates, including educated professionals, members of backward classes, and people with little previous political experience. Within a short period, the TDP emerged as the main challenger to the Congress ahead of the election.

Parties and alliances Alliance/PartyFlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedIndian National Congress (Indira)Gaddam Venkatswamy294rowspan="4" Left-Janata AllianceRAO, K. V. NARAYANA, and D. SUNDAR RAM. “POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH 1978-1989: A STUDY.” The Indian Journal of Political Science, vol. 51, no. 4, 1990, pp. 540–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41855522. Accessed 28 May 2026.Communist Party of India15248Janata Party43Lok Dal33Communist Party of India (Marxist)28Telugu Desam PartyN. T. Rama Rao294Bharatiya Janata PartyP. V. Chalapathi Rao80

Results Results by party + Source:Party Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Contested Won +/− Telugu Desam Party 9, 777, 222 46.30 new 294 201 new Indian National Congress (Indira) 7,090,907 33.58 5.67 294 60 115 Communist Party of India (Marxist) 425,109 2.01 0.70 28 5 3 Communist Party of India 588,144 2.79 0.30 48 4 2 Indian National Congress (Jagjivan) 119,372 0.57 new 86 1 new Janata Party 203,478 0.96 27.89 43 1 Bharatiya Janata Party 582,464 2.76 new 80 3 new Other parties 238,168 1.13 N/A 42 0 N/A Independents 19 4Total21,117,111100.00N/A1,720294N/AVote statisticsValid votes21,117,11197.94Invalid votes443,5312.06Votes cast/ turnout21,560,64267.70Abstentions10,286,05232.30Registered voters31,846,694

Results by constituency