TDP leader M. Narsimhulu, who undertook a day-long fast, demands apology from KCR

Telangana Telugu Desam leaders have demanded withdrawal of the resolution adopted in the Telangana Legislature urging the Centre to maintain status quo with regard to naming the domestic terminal after TDP founder and former Chief Minister of the united AP N.T. Rama Rao.

They were speaking at a day-long fast undertaken by senior TDP leader M. Narsimhulu at NTR Ghat protesting the resolution.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and a host of TDP leaders, including Telangana TDP president L. Ramana, TDP floor leader in Telangana Assembly Errabelli Dayakar Rao, TDP floor leader in Council A. Narsa Reddy, MLAs Revanth Reddy, Sayanna, M. Gopinath, MPs M. Malla Reddy and G. Mohan Rao, among others visited the venue and expressed solidarity with Mr. Narsimhlu, who demanded a public apology from Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for “insulting” people of Telangana State.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdhary and AP Social Welfare Minister R. Kishore Babu also visited the venue.

Most of the leaders observed that Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao, Leader of the Opposition K. Jana Reddy and Speaker Madhusudhana Chary, were introduced to politics by late NTR. Objecting to NTR being described as an ‘Andhraite’, they said he could not be confined to a region as he was above regionalism.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said his party had declared prior to 2009 elections that NTR’s name would be restored to domestic terminal if TDP and its alliance partners came to power. He sought to know why TRS did not raise the issue then as it was his party’s ally at that time.

He alleged that the Congress and TRS colluded in adopting the resolution. He said justice was done to the poor in Telangana when NTR was the Chief Minister as he introduced welfare schemes and reforms like abolition of patel-patwari system.

He demanded Bharat Ratna for former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and NTR and said the TDP would fight till its demand was achieved.

Mr. Narsimhulu recalled that Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao heaped lavish praise on NTR in 2009 saying he was the first Telugu to publicly acknowledge that injustice was done to Telangana and issued 610 GO. Meanwhile, Congress activists on Saturday washed the statue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Somajiguda with milk and staged a dharna demanding retention of his name for the international airport here.

The leadership that was present on the occasion gave a call for protest programmes in all district headquarter towns on Monday. The Congress high command was also requested to raise the issue in the Parliament.

Addressing the gathering, Telangana Congress Committee president Ponnala Laxmaiah warned the Central government against going ahead with the decision to name the domestic terminal of the airport after NTR because the State Assembly had already passed a resolution seeking retention of Rajiv Gandhi’s name. He reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he owed his present standing to the contribution of Rajiv Gandhi in Information Technology sector.

Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy said the latest decision of the Centre would vitiate the peaceful atmosphere that had just now set in in both the States after bifurcation.

If the decision was implemented, it would lead to raking up tensions between them once again.

Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao rebutted the claim of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that the naming of terminal after NTR was linked to the self respect of Telugu-speaking people. “What about the self respect of NTR when he was dethroned as Chief Minister by Mr. Naidu,” he asked. Mr. Naidu resorted to the act though he was NTR’s son-in-law.

The dharna was also attended by former Ministers D. Srinivas, Danam Nagender and Mohammed Ali Shabbir, former MPs Ponnam Prabhakar, M. Anjan Kumar Yadav and S. Rajaiah and Deputy Mayor Raj Kumar.