Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies minister and firebrand Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Kodali Sri Venkateshwara Rao on Tuesday said Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu will not let the late NT Rama Rao receive the prestigious Bharat Ratna award.

“At Mahanadu, they claim that NTR should be given Bharat Ratna but in proper format they never give this demand. Did Naidu take a cabinet decision that NTR should be given Bharat Ratna?” questioned Rao, who is popularly known as Kodali Nani.

He said Naidu doesn’t even ask for that award to NTR in the capacity of TDP supremo and alleged that he suspended NTR from the party and grabbed his chief minister’s seat.

“As long as Naidu is alive, he will not let NTR receive Bharat Ratna because he is the first enemy of NTR,” alleged Rao.

Rao also did not mince words in criticizing Naidu and alleging that he was responsible for the death of NTR.

The YSRCP leader noted that in the event of Bharat Ratna being given to NTR, technically it will be received by his wife Lakshmi Parvathy as she is alive.

“When a husband wins Bharat Ratna, the award will be given to his wife not to daughters, sons or sons-in-law. That means Lakshmi Parvathy will go and receive the Bharat Ratna award, which he (Naidu) doesn’t like. So that’s why he never proposes to anyone to give Bharat Ratna to NTR,” claimed Rao.

Other than merely repeating this wish at the death anniversary, he said Naidu doesn’t do anything beyond on this matter.

Conferring the award on NTR is a longtime demand of his supporters and admirers across the state.

Naidu is the son-in-law of NTR