Rich tributes paid to NTR on 100th birth anniversary

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, supporters, Nandamuri family members and multitudes of people across Andhra Pradesh paid rich tributes to former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao, founder of TDP and legendary actor, on his 100th birth anniversary on Sunday.

On the second day of TDP Mahanadu, a brainstorming session of the party leaders and supporters, which coincided with Rao’s birth anniversary, his son-in-law and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu paid tributes by garlanding Rao’s statue at Kotipalli bus station in Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari district.

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The TDP president was accompanied by Rao’s son and Hindupur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna and senior party leader Atchannaidu among others. "NTR was a leader who believed that the true definition of political power was serving the humanity and he practiced it," tweeted Naidu on Sunday.

Likewise, the southern state’s principal opposition party’s general secretary Nara Lokesh paid his respects by highlighting that Rao founded TDP to propagate Telugu community’s pride and self-respect across the country.

He called on people to celebrate his 100th birth anniversary in big way. Rao was born on May 28, 1923 in Nimmakuru village in Krishna district and breathed his last on January 18, 1996. Similarly, Jr. NTR, grandson of Rao and an acclaimed Telugu actor posted a heartfelt note commemorating the birth anniversary in Telugu, including visiting NTR Ghat in Hyderabad and paying floral tributes.

Moreover, expatriate TDP supporters in the US beamed images of Rao on billboards at Times Square in New York City, celebrating the thespian’s birthday. Meanwhile, the two-day Mahanadu concluded on Sunday. The first Mahanadu was held 40 years ago in May 1983 at Vijayawada, presided over by Rao.