VV Balakrishna
Express News Service
Last Updated : 12 Sep 2011 12:21:58 PM IST
HYDERABAD: After a temporary lull, it seems the Nandamuri-Nara family feud is intensifying and the gulf widening further. In the latest battle, NTR Jr, the son-in-law of Studio N channel promoter Narne Srinivas, is said to be making moves to take control of the Telugu news channel.
For over a year now the channel has been run by Chandrababu Naidu’s son, Lokesh, who took over the management from Srinivas.
It was Naidu who fixed NTR Junior’s marriage to Srinivas’ daughter, Lakshmi Pranati.
But the discord between the Nara and Nandamuri families surfaced even before the marriage.
Nandamuri Harikirshna raised a banner of revolt against Naidu and even distributed pamphlets.
The family feud soon turned into a war between the scions, Lokesh and NTR Jr. There was even talk of NTR Jr and Lokesh fighting it out to emerge as the ‘political heir’ of party founder and family patriarch NT Rama Rao.
Hailing him as the future leader, Lokesh’s supporters erected his cut-outs and banners near the Mahanadu venue in May while not a single portrait, cut-out or banner of NTR Jr or Harikrishna was seen. An upset Harikrishna refused to make the customary address. Deciding to put a stop to the feud, Naidu declared that party workers were the real heirs of NTR.
But the expected patch-up between the two families did not take place.
Till the 2009 general election Naidu had made it a practice to invite Harikrishna, Balakrishna, their siblings and other members of the NTR family to his residence and host lunch for them. But the get-togethers have stopped now, except in the case of Balakrishna. NTR Jr too has not visited Naidu in the recent past.
Recently Naidu initiated a tradition to wish the party leaders on their birthdays. Several TDP leaders celebrated their birthdays in the presence of Naidu. In contrast, Harikrishna celebrated his birthday in Delhi last week and did not bother to meet Naidu.
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