Paying a glorious tribute to TDP founder, matinee idol and former chief minister N T Rama Rao, TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has on Thursday passed a resolution demanding that the central government confer the nation’s highest honour ‘Bharat Ratna’ on NTR.
The demand for Bharat Ratna to be conferred on NTR has been there for more than two decades. At every Mahanadu, the annual meeting of the party, Naidu reiterated the demand for NTR to confer the Bharat Ratna but successive governments have ignored it. On the second day of Mahandau, rich tributes were paid to the late leader on his birth anniversary.
Addressing the party leaders and cadre via the Zoom application, perhaps first ever such meeting held by any political party in the country, Naidu said NTR was not an individual but an institution who is revered even today for his socio-economic policies. Calling NTR as ‘Yuga Purushudu’ (Man of the era), Naidu said “NTR was the pride of Telugu people and worked for the self-respect of Telugus; he was the darling of the masses and we should strive to get the honour for the great leader.” Reading the resolution said, Naidu further said the TDP party founded by NTR by invoking Telugu ‘Atma Gouravam’ (self pride) has witnessed several ups and downs in the party’s existence for nearly four decades. In the resolution, Naidu has coined a new term ‘Atma Vishwasam’ (self-confidence) to instill confidence and boost the morale of the party leaders and cadre. Naidu reminded that it was NTR who brought all opposition parties together on a single platform. Before floating the National Front in 1988-89, NTR called national leaders of several parties to Mahanadu and brought all political leaders under one roof.
“The TDP has been fulfilling the aspirations of the people for 38 years,” Naidu said and roared that ‘we would not let the evil designs of the YSRCP party to break the unity of the Telugu Desam Party and the Telugu people. Telugu people’s “atma gouravam” (self-respect) is a term that NTR had coined to beat the Congress party and to stoke mass sentiment in 1982 when he launched his party. We should keep the spirit of NTR’s ideals and should not let the political machinations, evil designs and consipiracies of the ruling party to defeat the morale of our party.”
Naidu lashed out at the YSRCP government for targeting political opponents by by fabricating false cases with political vendetta in mind. Naidu pointed out instead of resolving people’s problems, the ruling YSRCP was foisting false cases on its political opponents and those questioning its decisions. The Jagan government’s attitude was to make its adversaries kowtow it or else coerce them with false cases, Naidu said while passing a resolution against the tyranny of the YSRCP government. In the one year rule, the YSRCP government has severely undermined the democratic institutions and subverted parliamentary democracy by Jagan’s authoritarian rule, Naidu said. “Dr Sudhakar Rao was suspended for raising voice against the shortage of masks and other medical equipment like PPEs in government hospitals. He was beaten by the police and later sent to a mental hospital. The TDP will not allow such atrocities against people and violations of human rights. The party will stand by Dr Sudhakar Rao. Do not be cowed down by the threats and intimidation of the YSRCP rule. We should stand together like we did for decades and defeat the YSRCP,” Naidu said.
The TDP organises the annual Mahanadu on May 28 to coincide with the birth anniversary of its founding president, N T Rama Rao. As an annual practice, the party pays tribute to its founder and passes resolutions on prevailing issues. Last year, the TDP had skipped organizing the meeting due to the General Elections. The TDP’s two-day annual political conclave had a participation of over 14,000 party leaders and activists through a webinar platform and another 25,000 followers viewing the event on social media platforms, Naidu said.
