NTR strode political stage like a colossus: Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday described the former Chief Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh NT Rama Rao as a legend, saying he strode the political stage like a colossus.

Naidu paid glowing tributes to NTR while releasing a book 'Maverick Messiah', a biography authored by senior journalist Ramesh Kandula here. He said that the political landscape underwent a profound change after NTR's arrival on the scene. "Power, in NTR's case, was truly drawn from the people. The author quite rightly pointed out that NTR redefined the political culture in the then united Andhra Pradesh and scripted a new political idiom," remarked Naidu.

The VP said NTR's entry into politics and his 'dramatic' success within about nine months of floating a regional party gave a new direction to national politics. NTR's sub-nationalism was constructive and his brand of regionalism celebrated the pluralistic idea of India. His fight for strengthening the federal character of the Constitution and the emphasis he laid on the welfare role of the government remains relevant in today's India when regional aspirations are on the rise, he observed.

Naidu said NTR was making a point and a case for a proper balance between the powers of the States and the Centre. He recalled that his first legislative initiative was the Upa-Lok Pal Act demonstrating his keenness to end corruption that was eating into the vitals of society and the State. "He empowered women with property rights and political representation and introduced reservations for BCs in Zilla Parishads. His 2 rupees a-kilo rice scheme turned out to be the front-runner in welfarism," the VP said. However, he cautioned that the thrust of welfarism should be to economically empower people rather than merely focusing on only populist schemes.

Naidu recalled that he could sustain the TDP tsunami led by NTR in Udayagiri Assembly constituency in 1983. "His entry into politics was not driven by a self-serving lust for power and much less by envy or over vaulting ambition", he observed.

The VP praised the author for charting the course of some of the biggest upheavals in AP politics objectively and with the insight of a seasoned observer. He stressed the need for bringing out more books on different facets of NTR.