Writer and former Chairperson of Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad has again raised the pitch for conferment of Bharat Ratna on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, saying that the latter had paved the way for alternative politics at the national level.
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Mr. Lakshmi Prasad has written a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the achievements of N.T. Rama Rao.
“NTR’s efforts in administrative reforms, women’s empowerment, national politics are invaluable,” he said, adding that by defeating the Congress within nine months of founding the TDP in 1983, the leader had given a major boost to ‘alternative politics’ in the country.
He pointed out how NTR played a major role in the formation of the second non-Congress government at the Centre in 1989 and how, as an actor, he had carved a permanent place in the minds and hearts of the Telugu people through his multitude of roles.
“Considering his contribution to the fields if cinema and politics, it is only fair to confer Bharat Ratna on NTR,” said Mr. Lakshmi Prasad in the letter.