NT Rama Rao had founded TDP with the single purpose of defeating the Congress.
Highlights
- NTR had founded TDP with the single purpose of defeating the Congress
- TDP, Congress are old rivals; Andhra Pradesh splitting strained ties more
- Mr Naidu said "democratic compulsion" led him to join hands with Congress
With the Telugu Desam Party and the Congress setting aside their bitter history to join hands for the 2019 general election, the party founder NT Rama Rao's wife has "requested" her husband to take rebirth "to save the self-respect of Telugu people".
In a letter addressed to her husband, Lakshmi Parvathi claimed TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has given up the very ideology for which the party was formed by joining hands with the Congress and "requested" her husband to "take rebirth" to cleanse the politics and restore the self-respect of the people.
NT Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR, had formed TDP in 1982 with the single purpose of defeating the Congress. Within nine months, he stormed to power ending the virtual monopoly of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh.
He married Lakshmi Parvathi in 1993, a few months before he returned to power with a landslide victory. However, the party faced first major revolt when Mr Naidu led a revolt against Ms Parvathi's growing interference in party and became chief minister in August 1995.
Chandrababu Naidu has maintained "democratic compulsion" led to him joining hands with the Congress.
NTR died in January 1996 and since then Ms Parvathi had been living in political oblivion.
Ms Parvathi, who joined the YSR Congress in 2014, alleged that Mr Naidu's actions caused pain to crores of followers and admirers of NTR.
"I am waiting for the day when people of Andhra Pradesh will get back their self-respect," said Ms Parvathi, who sat in silence at the NTR memorial.
Chandrababu Naidu, who met Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, has maintained "democratic compulsion" led to him joining hands with the Congress in order to take on the ruling BJP in the 2019 national election.
"We have decided to put that past behind. The idea is to defeat the BJP. Both of us agreed that we are not going to talk about our past and talk about our future," the Congress president said.
Mr Naidu's party has been extremely upset with the 2014 bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh on Congress watch.