HYDERABAD: Congress and TDP on Wednesday described the just-concluded mega event as “TRS Mahasabhalu”. They said that the World Telugu Conference was organised like a political meeting.
“Telugu poets and folk singers like Ande Sri, balladeer Gaddar and Vimalakka, whose contributions to the Telangana movement were innumerable, were not invited to the Mahasbhalu. The way the State government preferred to invite only a selected few poets from Telangana, who are yes-men to the ruling establishment, clearly proves that the Mahasabhalu was conducted like a political meeting and not to protect and promote the Telugu language,” Congress veteran V Hanumantha Rao and TDP politburo member Motkupalli Narsimhulu criticised.
While addressing media separately here on Wednesday, the two senior politicos took strong exception to the way the State government conducted the conference by letting ministers and ruling TRS leaders preside over each programme. “The way the conference was held clearly indicates that it was organised like a TRS meeting. All the eminent poets in the Telugu literature, who got Jnanpith award, were also ignored,” Hanumantha Rao attacked.
Both Rao and Narsimhulu wondered at the way the government ignored Telugu legendary film hero NT Rama Rao at the event. “NTR is the first leader to bring national and international recognition for Telugus. Ignoring him in Telugu Mahasabhalu is very unfortunate,” Narasimhulu criticised.
While recalling that KCR had felicitated his teacher Mruthyunjaya Sharma during Telugu conference, Narsimhulu wanted to know why he had forgotten his ‘political guru’ NTR.