Balayya skips Mahanadu

The Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Thursday said he would fight to get reservations for backward castes, women and minorities in legislative bodies.

In his inaugural address at the party’s three-day annual meet — Mahanadu — at Telugu Vijayam premises at Gandipet on the city outskirts, Mr Naidu asked his party workers to join him in this fight.

Extending indirect support to the Yadav trio in their approach to the quota for women, Mr Naidu declared that TD would fight along with other political parties to achieve this.

In his hour-long speech, Mr Naidu lashed out at the ruling Congress and said it was responsible for the rampant corruption and inefficiency in the state.

“The TD made the state proud with several infrastructure and IT projects, but the Congress only brought notoriety,” he said. No political party in the state could take on the Congress except the TD, he said, and praised party workers for their support despite being out of power.

More than 15,000 party delegates attended the 29th Mahanadu inaugural meet, but the NTR family members kept away from the session. It is learnt that actors Junior NTR and Balakrishna are going to Karamchedu village in Prakasam district on Friday to attend a meeting called by another son-in-law of NTR, Mr D. Venkateswara Rao, skipping the Mahanadu.

At the same time, Mr Naidu is making all efforts to convince them to attend the Mahanadu at least on May 29, the last day. Interestingly, Mr Lokesh Naidu also did not turn up at the meeting though the party cadre was hoping to see him in the backdrop of the TD chief’s comment that he would not stop his son from taking up a political career.