VIJAYAWADA: NT Rama Rao’s widow Lakshmi Parvathi took serious exception to not being invited for the ceremony of the release of the Rs 100 coin, commemorating the Telugu Desam Party founder and legendary actor’s birth centenary year.
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday released the coin at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre. TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and BJP State chief and NTR’s daughter Daggubati Purandeswari attended the programme.
“I am deeply hurt. Not inviting me is not just an insult to me, but also to NT Rama Rao,” the YSRC leader remarked. She wrote letters to the President, Prime Minister and Finance Minister expressing her objection to not being invited to the event.
Speaking to reporters, Lakshmi Parvati alleged that she was ignored because of Purandeswari. Stating that it was unacceptable not to invite the wife of the honouree, she said, “I am happy that Rs 100 coin to commemorate NTR has been released. But at the same time, I am deeply hurt by being ignored. I should have been among the first persons to be invited. Had it been a government-organised programme, it was definitely a blunder on the part of the government. However, by the look of the invitations, it looks like a private event that was attended by the President.”
Further, she questioned how people who backstabbed her husband and were responsible for his untimely demise were invited to the ceremony. “How are they being hailed as inheritors of his legacy?” she rued.
Currently, the chairperson of Telugu Akademi, Lakshmi Parvati asserted that she is the legally wedded wife of NTR, but for years she has been treated as a pariah.
“I never came in the way of Purandeswari. Was she ever there when NTR was sick and needed assistance? I was there for him, and now I am being ignored,” she said.
Lashing out at the BJP AP chief, NTR’s widow alleged that though Naidu backstabbed NTR, Purandeswari wrote the script. Vowing to defeat Naidu, Purandeshwari and Balakrishna in the 2024 elections, Lakshmi Parvati claimed, “Angry with her father, Purandeswari joined Congress and became corrupt to the core. Later, she joined the BJP and misappropriated election funds during the previous elections. Now, Naidu and she are again conspiring.”