Balaiah tour a test for TD

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Mar 18, 2013: It will be a Herculean task for the Telugu Desam cadre in Visakhapatnam district to organise the day-long tour of film actor Balakrishna smoothly, scheduled on March 23, if one considers the internal bickerings in the party. TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘Vastunna Meekosam’ padayatra will enter the district in April but there seems no end to the differences.

The party’s Visakhapatnam district unit lacks unity. On March 23, Balakrishna will unveil statues of TDP founder and his father N. T. Rama Rao at Payakaraopet, Akampet, Kandipudi Rajagopalapuram and Kumarapuram villages, under the mass contact programme chalked out by the party chief to revive the prospects of the Telugu Desam ahead of 2014 general elections.

TD president Chandrababu Naidu had tried to put an end to the rivalry between party senior leaders Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy and Ayyana Patrudu but the disagreement fails to die down.
On Sunday, the differences came to the fore again at a party co-ordination meeting held to decide on the route map of Naidu’s padayatra.

No discussions were held at meeting as party state vice-president Satyanarayana Murthy did not take part. He reached the office but after knowing that politburo member Ch Ayyana Patrudu had begun the proceedings, he left the place.

Against this backdrop, TD activists in the district are in a confused state on organising programmes during Balakrishna’s visit.

Payakaraopet has been included into the itinerary of Balakrishna as party former MLA and strong leader Chengala Venkat Rao has switched loyalties to the YSR Congress recently.

Interestingly, Venkat Rao entered politics by joining the TD after producing a film with Balakrishna in the lead role, Samarasimha Reddy, which was a blockbuster and earned huge revenue.

Earlier, Balakrishna had unveiled NTR statues in Krishna, Srikakulam and other districts and announced his intention to plunge into active politics.

Actor Balakrishna’s Payakaraopet programme is officially being organised by the Nandamuri youth association.