Women political leaders showered praises on Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday with one of them even calling him a messiah of women empowerment.
At a meeting organised as part of the International Women’s Day celebrations, Panchumarti Anuradha, who was the youngest Mayor in 2000 and later appointed chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Women’s Co-operative Finance Corporation, struck an immediate chord with the audience when she drifted from a mundane speech and narrated how Mr. Naidu became a source of inspiration for her when she was going through the most difficult phase of her life.
“A day after my appointment, I was diagnosed with cancer and it was in third stage. I did not tell my elderly parents to save them the trauma. The only persons I shared the news with was my husband and Mr. Naidu. When I expressed apprehensions about my ability to continue in the post, he gave me immense strength with his encouraging words. I have learnt so much in life from him. There were times when I felt exhausted, but I would see his tightly packed schedule and draw inspiration from it,” she said in an emotional voice.
Nannapaneni Rajakumari, chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Commission, followed it up with an emotion-soaked account of how Mr. Naidu came as a messiah when her spouse was diagnosed with cancer. “Today, if I am able to wear these glass bangles and vermilion, it is only because of Naidu garu. Though he is two years younger to me, I express my gratitude to him with folded hands,” she said.
