VIJAYAWADA: Tollywood superstar Jr NTR, who was invited for the centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister and founder of Telugu Desam Party Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, skipped the latter’s event organised by TDP in Hyderabad on Saturday. The development comes amid reports of Jr NTR distancing himself from the party as well as some members of both the Nandamuri and Nara families.
In a release, Jr NTR, who turned 40 on the same day, cited that he wouldn’t be able to attend the event due to prior family commitments. “We regret to inform you that Jr NTR will not be able to attend the NTR Shatajayanthi Utsavalu event to be held on May 20 in Hyderabad due to prior family commitments as his 40th birthday falls on the same day. The organising committee was informed about the same at the time of invitation,’’ the office of the actor said.
Apart from Jr NTR, the organising committee of the centenary celebrations had invited a host of other family members, including NTR’s daughter Daggubati Purandeswari, actor Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and others for the gala event. The NTR centenary celebrations are being organised throughout the year and over 100 meetings have been planned. A couple of meetings have already been held in Hyderabad and Vijayawada.
It may be recalled that superstar Rajinikanth was the chief guest during the celebrations held in Vijayawada, which led to resentment among Jr NTR fans for ignoring their favourite star. Taking stock of the situation, the TDP had recently held a crucial meeting under the leadership of party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, where it was decided to invite all the family members of NTR, including Jr NTR.
The centenary celebrations organising committee chairman TD Janardhan and NTR’s son Nandamuri Ramakrishna visited the actor’s residence to invite him to the event last Monday. Daggubati Purandeswari and others were also invited.
Jr NTR, who had campaigned for the TDP in the run-up to the 2009 elections, distanced himself from the party and focussed on his film career. It was said that the party too had not given much prominence to the actor-turned-politician after Nara Lokesh made his political entry. Party sources also maintained that the gap between Jr NTR and Nandamuri Balakrishna also widened in the recent past.
Meanwhile, the TDP leadership has been facing embarrassing moments during Naidu’s roadshows as the Jr NTR fans have been raising slogans in support of the actor and even have been portraying the latter as the next Chief Minister through posters.
Sources said with the yellow party all set to go for elections next year, the TDP leadership reportedly thought of bridging the gap between the party and the Nandamuri family. By inviting Jr NTR, the party also wanted to strike a chord with his fans and win their support.