NTR family back on Andhra political stage

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May 13, 2004 14:10 IST

Staking claim for NTR legacy, his eldest daughter and her husband returned to active politics, donning Congress colours, the rout of TDP notwithstanding.

While Chandrababu Naidu, who shot into national prominence and took the tag of kingmaker, and his TDP fell like a pack of cards, NTR's daughter Purandareswari made her electoral debut to Lok Sabha from Bapatla defeating renowned film producer and incumbent D Rama Naidu by a margin of over 90,000 votes.

"Present day TDP no more honours the sentiments and ideals of my father and its agenda and priorities now are totally which NTR would never had approved," Purandareswari contends.

The resounding victory from the tobacco rich Prakasham district was so pronounced that Congress counted on Bapatla right from the day Purandareswari's name was announced.

Her husband Dr Daggupati Venkateswara Rao, a former MP, also made a forceful comeback by winning the Parchur assembly seat with a comfortable majority.

Parchur assembly falls under the Bapatla Lok Sabha seat.

Rao and Naidu were equally groomed by NTR and they together overthrew NTR and took over the party reins. Rao was slowly sidelined and he hopped to NTR-TDP and BJP before settling down in Congress.

NTR's widow Lakshmi Parvathi too had a brief stint in politics and lost the election from Atmakur assembly this time while his eldest son Harikrishna was made a minister after the family coup but was slowly pushed aside.

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