Amaravati, May 28 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said TDP founder N T Rama Rao, who ushered in major changes in the country’s political landscape, should be conferred the Bharat Ratna.
Addressing the second day of Mahanadu, the TDP’s annual conclave, Naidu said the Bharat Ratna should be bestowed on NTR in recognition of the sentiments of the Telugu people.
“We request that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on a leader like NTR, who ushered in major changes in the political landscape of the country,” the TDP supremo said while commemorating NTR’s birth anniversary.
Observing that NTR had worked for the unity of Telugu people, he said the TDP founder would live forever in their hearts.
Naidu noted that NTR, who began his career as an ordinary employee, went on to become a film actor and later chief minister within nine months of founding a political party.
He also said NTR had played a key role in the formation of governments at the Centre.
Naidu said the party would once again urge the Centre to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in legislative bodies, and asserted that the TDP would be the first political party to implement the quota.
TDP working president Nara Lokesh had proposed on the first day of Mahanadu that the party reserve 33 per cent of seats for women in the 2029 elections.
NTR was born on May 28, 1923, and died on January 18, 1996, at the age of 72.
NTR founded the Telugu Desam Party in 1982 and served three terms as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. He acted in about 300 films and rose to superstardom in Telugu cinema.
The TDP is now headed by Naidu. With 16 Lok Sabha MPs, TDP is a key constituent of the NDA at the Centre. PTI STH SSK
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