Hyderabad: The Telangana issue has literally split the NTR clan and TD leaders. The spectre of differences over Telangana and other issues came alive at NTR Ghat on Saturday, which was the death anniversary of party founder N.T. Rama Rao.
Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu, wife Bhuvaneshwari, son Lokesh, Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao and his wife and Union minister Purandeshwari, Harikrishna, actor Jr NTR, Lakshmi Parvathi and other NTR family members, besides a host of TD leaders from Telangana and Seemandhra paid tributes to Rama Rao.
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Contrary to rumours, Jr NTR said that acting was his “bread and butter”?and that he has no intention of contesting the forthcoming elections, though he will campaign for TD.
NTR’s son, Nandamuri Harikrishna, hit out at critics in the party. “I am a Samaikhyawadi. If he (NTR) were alive, the state would not have been bifurcated. I stand by his ideals of unity of Telugus. Some fools in my party said I resigned from the Rajya Sabha in a fit of emotion. I am not a fool. I am committed to Samaikyandhra,”?he roared.
A short while later, Telangana TD Forum convener, Errabelli Dayakar Rao dropped a bombshell claiming that had NTR been alive, the state would have been divided by now! He further claimed, “Harikrishna too had supported Telangana.”
Ignited by this remark, Harikrishna spat out, “I never supported Telangana. I challenge anyone to prove it. No committee consulted me on the issue. There is a deliberate campaign against me. I am ready to discuss any issue. I know MPs and MLAs are eyeing for seats in other parties.”
In an indirect reference to brother Balakrishna being considered for a Rajya Sabha seat, Harikrishna said, “Some may fall into a trap, but not me. I stand by NTR ideals.”
Speaking at the meeting, Purandeshwari said that the state was missing a strong leader like NTR and that things would have been different had he been alive.
Seemandhra TD leaders Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Nanapaneni Rajkumari, Paritala Sunita and others reiterated the demand for Samaikyandhra, stressing that NTR stood for a united Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu, who had backed Telangana through a letter in 2008, avoided controversy and safely said that NTR had showed the world a new genre of welfare politics.
