Even as Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar is all set to unveil former chief minister and TDP founder NT Rama Rao’s statue at Parliament House on May 7, TD chief N Chandrababu Naidu had not received any invitation from the speaker’s office till Saturday, placing in a dilemma whether to attend the ceremony or not.
Sources said Naidu is angry at Meira for making the NTR statue issue a family affair. “NTR is a national leader. The way the statue is being erected in Parliament House is causing agony to all,” Naidu is believed to have said.
He had offered to sponsor the statue after the Statues and Portraits Committee of Lok Sabha decided to instal it. The Congress wanted NTR’s daughter Purandeswari to sponsor the statue for obvious reasons. Thus, Naidu is upset over the decision of the speaker. “The entire issue is considered a family matter,” he said.
When the speaker invited Purandeswari to sponsor the statue, Naidu dashed off letters to the speaker and Purandeswari (his sister-in-law) that the TDP was willing to sponsor statue of NTR who was the party’s founder.