Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Lakshmi Parvathi, widow of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao, wants his grandson and popular actor Junior NTR to take over the party.
As per the reports, Parvathi’s suggestion is likely to trigger a new debate in the political circles in the wake of Junior NTR’s recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Hyderabad. Parvathi, who is currently in YSR Congress party, said Junior NTR should take over the party from N. Chandrababu Naidu, who had ‘snatched’ it from NTR in 1995. Her suggestion came amid speculations that Amit Shah invited Junior NTR to join the BJP, which is looking to expand its base in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP leaders claimed that politics was not discussed during the meeting while Junior NTR remained tightlipped about the purpose of the meeting. Some BJP leaders claimed that the meeting was held at the request of Amit Shah who was impressed by Junior NTR’s performance in the blockbuster ‘RRR’. However, the meeting triggered a debate in political circles as it came amid BJP’s aggressive push to consolidate its base in both the Telugu states.
This is not the first time that Parvathi has made this suggestion. “I had said this earlier too and I will remain in the forefront to urge him to take over the party of his grandfather,” she said. Junior NTR, who has acted in about 100 films, is one of the top actors of Tollywood and enjoys huge popularity in both the Telugu states. His father Harikrishna was also an actor and served as a state minister and Rajya Sabha member. He died in a road accident in 2018.
