NEW DELHI: It’s official. The daughter has lost it to the son-in-law. The tussle is over who should donate the bust of N T Rama Rao, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu film superstar, to be installed in the Parliament house complex. On both sides were NTR’s son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, and daughter, Union Minister of State for HRD D Purandeswari.
The issue started when the Parliament’s Statues and Portraits Committee gave permission to install a bust of NTR in its complex after TDP’s repeated pleas. Purandeswari intervened and claimed her right to donate the statue. Both sides made representations to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who is also the chairperson of the committee.
As the tussle refused to die down, the Speaker put the issue into the freezer and told his family members to settle the issue first and then approach her. Later, the TDP presented the signatures of majority of the family members and the Speaker gave a ruling in the party’s favour.
Naidu is the husband of NTR’s third daughter Bhuvaneswari. Purandeshwari is the second daughter, and is married to Dr Venkiteswara Rao, an MLA who joined the Congress following a tussle with Naidu, after NTR’s death.