Bickerings mar NTR statue unveiling

Naidu to attend function after A getting call from Speaker

• Lakshmi Parvathi left fuming, no invite so far
• Congress MPs ask Sonia not to attend
• Turns out to be a family affair, not even CM invited

Hyderabad: The week- long stand-off between the Telugu Desam Party and the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar, over the "omission" of the TDP chief N Chandrababau Naidu from the list of invitees for unveiling of the statue of N T Rama Rao in Parliament House ended on a cordial note on Monday. Following repeated representations made by the TDP MPs the Speaker spoke to the TDP chief over phone and invited him to attend the function scheduled for Tuesday. Naidu finally made up his mind to take part in the function along with his wife Bhuvaneswari and will be leaving for Delhi on Tuesday morning. TDP Parliamentary Party (TDPP) delegation led by its leader N Nageshwara Rao met the Speaker in New Delhi on Monday morning and submitted a memorandum on this issue. The delegation sought to know from her as to why Naidu was not invited. But the Speaker's office was said to be in receipt of the acknowledgement of the invitation extended to the family members of N T Rama Rao including Naidu and his wife. But the speaker had promptly responded to the representation made by the TDP MPs and requested the TDP chief to grace the occasion. The film actor turned politician and NTR' son Balakrishna already reached national capital and another son and party MP Harikrishna will join the NTR family in New Delhi on Tuesday. Sources said that NTR's sons � N Jayakrishna, N Mohana Krishna, N Ramakrishna (junior) and daughters - G Lokeshwari and K Umamaheshwari were also invited. Union minister for Textiles and NTR's daughter D Purandeswari, took the initiative in the installation of her father's statue. NTR's grandson and film actor Junior NTR, along with his wife Pranathi, will also attend the function. Laxmiparvathi, NTR TDP president and widow of N T Rama Rao, was left fuming against both Purandareswari and Meira Kumar as she did not get an invitation for the function till late in the evening on Monday. She threatened to move the court on the issue. She blamed the Speaker for the lapse. It was unfortunate that Meira Kumar threw the Indian family system and values to the winds by not inviting NTR's wife to the function, she said. Meanwhile, five senior Congress MPs met AICC President Sonia Gandhi on Monday and urged her not to attend the function to install the statue of N T Rama Rao. The MPs who met her were Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, Lagadapati Rajagopal, Panabaka Lakshmi, A Sai Pratap and Anatha Venkatrami Reddy. They reportedly told the AICC president that "All through his life, NTR fought against the Congress and if you attend the function, it will send wrong signals. TDP would gain political mileage out of it and Congress stands to lose from it". But Sonia has not given any indication on whether or not she would attend. Interestingly, even Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh will not be present on the occasion since he too has not been invited. It appears to have become a NTR family function, a Congress leader said.