TDP pitches for Bharat Ratna for its founder NTR

Hyderabad: The main Opposition in Andhra Pradesh, the TDP, has pitched for conferring Bharat Ratna on the party founder and legendary Telugu actor, N T Rama Rao.

TDP Rajya Sabha member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar on Monday wrote letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting to confer the nation's highest civilian award to NTR, highlighting the role he played in national politics and the formation of a non-Congress government at the Centre in 1989.

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, NTR played a very important role in forming the National Front (NF) and he became the President of the NF. The National Front included parties besides the TDP, Janata Dal, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and others. He was instrumental in forming the non-Congress government in 1989,” Ravindra Kumar said in the letter.

“Considering the statute and the selfless service rendered by NTR, it would be more befitting to confer upon him the highest civilian award, 'Bharat Ratna', which will be a matter of pride not only to the Telugu people but also to the people of this nation,” said the TDP’s Rajya Sabha member.