Jr NTR steals the TDP poll thunder campaign

By M H Ahssan

Speaks Of ‘Telugu Atma Gauravam’ Like His Grandpa

Junior NTR played his part to the hilt as he stole the thunder on Day One of his political ‘arangetram’ in state politics. While the crowds were floored by his striking resemblance to his late grandfather and TDP founder NTR, Jr NTR was all fire and brimstone invoking “Telugu pride” as he urged the people to drive out the corrupt Congress government from the state.

Clad in khaki dress, Jr NTR spoke mainly on corruption in Congress regime. “The time has come for the people to revolt and give a fitting lesson to the Congress. It’s the question of Telugu pride and the people have to showcase the ‘atma gauravam’ (self-pride) by defeating the corrupt Congress,” he hollered, making an extempore speech at Dasannapeta from where he launched his 33-day state-wide poll campaign for the TDP on Thursday.

Earlier, he reached Itchapuram by helicopter from Visakhapatnam. “I have not come here to seek your votes. But you all should give a thought to the future of the state and your lives. Even one day before the election, you must think and cast your vote judiciously,” the Telugu celluloid star said as his ‘Chaitanya Ratham’ strode into Itchapuram. The 25-year-old son of Rajya Sabha member Nandamuri Harikrishna said his grandfather set a precedent by undertaking trips to every nook and corner of the state upon launching the TDP in 1982. “He had travelled 35,000 km to bring about awareness and enlighten the people on Telugu pourusham,” he recalled.

Taking potshots at the YSR regime’s welfare agenda, he said though it claimed to have done so much for the farmers, over 6,000 ryots had committed suicide in the last five years. He said if the people want a corruption-free rule in the state, they should bring back the TDP to power. “Rise like an Alluri Sitaramaraju or a Bobbilipuli to root out corruption from the seat of power,” he thundered. A huge round of applause greeted him when he said, “Party workers and not family members are the true inheritors of NTR.” Massive crowds thronged the roads to hear him as Jr NTR tried to strike an emotional chord with them. Jr NTR rose to the defence of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu also, saying it was Naidu who strove to bring about a change in the lives of the people.

He wound up his speech with slogans like Jai NTR, Jai Telugu Desam and Jai Telugu Nadu — in typical NTR style. TDP leaders K Yerran naidu, Kadali Nani, Revanth Reddy and others accompanied Jr NTR.

We are better actors, says Botsa
Move over film actors. Botsa Satyanarayana claimed in Vizag that he is a far better actor than the ‘reel’ ones. Asked whether the Congress would rope in film stars for canvassing for the party in the polls, the minister said emphatically: “We are all actors. We don’t need any cine actor to campaign for the party. Mind you, we too have star-struck fans and we also command a fan following.” It seemed Botsa’s repartee was directed at actor-turned-politicians Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna. He said though the TDP and the PRP were banking on star power to win over the electorate, the Congress does not require them for campaigning. When asked how many tickets he was demanding for his family from Vizianagaram district, Botsa said the high command would look into it.