D. Venkateswara Rao

GUNTUR: Telugu Desam Party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu stoops to any level in politics to regain power, Parchur Congress MLA Daggubati Venkateswara Rao said on Wednesday.

At a press conference here, he criticised TDP leaders for allegations levelled during Mahanadu against him and his wife, Union Minister of State for HRD D. Purandareswari. He said Mr. Naidu had been misusing the name of party founder N.T. Rama Rao for power.

Referring to the letter written by Ms. Purandareswari to Mr. Naidu, he said that it was the anger within her that had made her write a letter to Mr. Naidu for misusing her father's image.

"We never were instrumental in dividing the TDP. In fact, when I went to Viceroy Hotel during the 1995 August episode, it was Ms. Purandareswari who warned me against joining these forces and today I repent for having done that," he said.

Rama Rao had sent a message to then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao seeking an alliance with the Congress for general elections and the Assembly polls later, for which P. Upendra and IAS officer Jayaprakash Narayan were eyewitnesses.

"This fact was mentioned in Mr. Upendra's book on his impressions on NTR," the MLA said.

He took exception to TDP leader K. Yerran Naidu for not producing a letter written by Ms. Purandareswari offering funding for installing NTR's statue on Parliament premises and instead hurriedly taking a party letter in its place in December 2005.

The party president did not respond to this need from 2002 to 2004 even while he was the Chief Minister, he said.

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