Film actor and script writer Posani Krishna Murali has taken objection to Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh’s claims that those who opposed selections for Nandi awards were “NRAs” (non-resident Andhras).
He questioned the rationale behind Mr. Lokesh’s charge when a majority of jury members were Hyderabad residents. “How are non-residents selected as jury members,” he asked.
Speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday, Mr. Krishna Murali said he was rejecting the Nandi award given to him in the best supporting actor category for the film Temper . He was critical of Mr. Lokesh for the latter’s charge that people who were not in possession of Aadhaar and voter identity cards of Andhra Pradesh were raising hue and cry over Nandi awards.
“How can someone be branded as non-resident Andhra for criticising the manner in which selection for Nandi awards is made?” he questioned recalling that Mr. Lokesh too was paying taxes in Telangana and had constructed building here after bifurcation of AP. “TDP president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu too had criticised the previous governments. But he was never called a non-resident,” he said. He advised the AP Minister to learn from Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on how to behave with people. Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao stood by his word that his struggle was against those exploiting Telangana and not against the people of Andhra origin. “I salute the Chief Minister and the Telangana people for they never spoke ill about those from AP,” he said.
