By IANS,
Hyderabad : Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu Wednesday said there was nothing wrong in his brothers-in-law working for the party.
The former chief minister said they were working to strengthen the party which their father N.T. Rama Rao had founded.
“Who are they?” he shot back when asked about his attempts to rope in sons and grandsons of NTR for the party’s campaign for next year’s elections.
“They are sons of NTR and also actors. When occasion arises, they work to strengthen the party founded by their father,” he said at a news conference.
This was Naidu’s first comment after NTR’s daughter and Union Minister D. Purandareswari lashed out at him for trying to rope in her brothers for TDP’s campaign.
Terming him “jackal of all seasons”, the Congress MP alleged that Naidu “backstabbed” her father to usurp power in 1995 leading to his death a few months later.
“Harikrishna is already with the party. In the past he also worked as driver for the party,” said Naidu in an obvious reference to the actor driving the `chariot’ of his father during the election campaign.
“Balakrishna also addressed party meetings in the past. NTR Junior is new but he also campaigned for the party in one constituency during the last elections,” said Naidu.
Balakrishna is the actor son while NTR Junior is a young popular actor and grandson of NTR. The latter campaigned for his friend, a TDP candidate, in the 2004 elections.
Naidu last week met NTR’s sons and grandsons to seek their support for his state-wide `yatra’ beginning April 20. The move was significant in view of plans by Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi to launch a new political party.
Naidu, who was chief minister from 1995 to 2004, is trying to use the charisma of the NTR family to counter Chiranjeevi and return to power.
He has already made Harikrishna a member of the Rajya Sabha. Harikrishna, who took oath Wednesday, said in New Delhi that he was even ready to contest against his sister to uphold the ideals of his father.
Balakrishna also moved closer to TDP last year after Naidu’s son married his daughter. He is playing a key role in bringing NTR Junior and other members of the NTR family closer to the TDP chief.
NTR, a popular Telugu film actor, launched TDP in the early 1980s and created a record by coming to power within 9 months.