In his last days, the matinee idol of Telugu cinema and popular Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao was a sad man. Crestfallen and humiliated after being dethroned in a political coup by his son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu, he could never come to terms with a sense of betrayal. He died in January 1996.
His tormentors have now turned worshippers. The Telugu Desam Party, founded by him over four decades ago and now headed by Chandrababu Naidu, has demanded that Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour, be conferred on him.
“NTR was a towering personality who left an indelible mark on films and politics alike. He fought for Telugu pride and his contribution in the uplift of the poor is unparalleled in the state,” the TDP MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar said in separate letters addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
A flurry of poll-eve announcements by the NDA government, conferring Bharat Ratna on five personalities this year, has prompted the TDP to raise the demand for bestowing a similar honour on NTR. The TDP is all set to return to the NDA fold ahead of the simultaneous polls to the assembly and Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh.
Nearly two decades after his death, NTR’s legacy still has political relevance and his ideals are often invoked by the parties in the film-crazy Andhra where tinsel glamour and politics are inexorably linked to each other.
“Considering the selfless service rendered by NTR, it would be more befitting to confer upon him the 'Bharat Ratna', which will be a matter of pride not only to the Telugu people but also to the people of this nation,” the TDP leader said.
Interestingly, NTR’s daughter, Daggubati Purandheswari, who served as a Union minister in the past, now heads the BJP’s state unit.
At the national level too, NTR played a crucial role in the formation of the first non-Congress coalition government at the Centre in 1989. He was made the president of the National Front (NF), a conglomeration of non-Congress parties including the TDP, Janata Dal, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and others.
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