TD ranks keep off Jr NTR's visit to city

Vijayawada: The private visit of junior NTR to the city on Saturday has become a talk of the town as the Telugu Desam ranks were conspicuous by their absence during his sojourn. A A The party leaders from Hyderabad, it is learnt, have instructed the local leaders to keep off the visit. They also reportedly advised the cadre against putting up banners welcoming the young star. On receiving directions from the State leadership, some of the activists removed banners put up by them overnight to avoid action. The party leaders, including the party urban president, Vallabhaneni Vamsimohan, who is considered close to the actor, did not turn up even at Gannavaram airport, when the hero arrived. Vamsi who went all out to meet Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy could not even dare to make a courtesy call to the young hero on Saturday. The absence of Vamsi and other leaders at the actor's visit raised many an eyebrow on the continuation of the actor in the party and his relationship with the Nandamuri family.A It is said that Nandamuri Balakrishna had directed the party leaders in the city to skip Jr NTR's visit this time. A It is believed that Balakrishna and the party chief N Chandrababu Naidu were unhappy with the young hero, following the defection of his ardent follower and Gudivada legislator Kodali Nani to the YSR Congress Party. Nani had even made several allegations against Chandrababu Naidu and even challenged the party to face him in Gudivada. However, the young hero remained silent when Nani left the party. He did not even condemn when Vamsi met Jaganmohan Reddy in the city some time ago. All this is said to have worked against the young hero.A It is understood that the party wants to keep the young actor at a distance for his silence to the defection of Kodali Nani and the indifferent attitude of Vallabhaneni Vamsi. In addition to this, the party leadership is also of the opinion that the young hero is only a crowd puller and not a vote catcher, as the party could not gain much from his electioneering in the past. Keeping all these factors into consideration, the TD leadership has kept its cadre away from his tour and is likely to follow the same strategy in the days to come. Above all, it is said that the TD chief is worried about the popularity of Jr NTR and sees a threat to the future of his son, Lokesh. Some of the TD leaders say that Chandrababu Naidu wants a strong base for Lokesh in the party and Junior NTR would be a threat to this.A It is for this reason the party chief had requested Balakrishna to snub the young hero, it is learnt. A Balakrishna, who is the father-in-law of Lokesh, is said to be under pressure to keep the hero out of the party to clear the way for the foreign-returned budding politician from the Nara's family. Releases Bride of India Jewellery festival The film hero released the Brides of Indian Jewellery at the festival of the Malabar Gold and Diamonds. The Malabar Gold and Diamonds has also organised 'Lunch with Jr NTR' for the invited guests at the hotel as part of the preview. As part of the company's corporate social responsibility, Jr NTR announced 'empowering education and empowering women' programme of the Malabar Gold. The company would distribute scholarships to the best performing girl students. He also handed over confirmation letters of scholarship to the District Education Officers of Krishna, Guntur and Khammam to be given to the students for scholarships.