NT Rama Rao Death Ceremony today

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 | Pavan
Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), more commonly known as N.T. Ramarao, NTR, or Anna garu, was an Indian film actor, director, and producer. His repertoire of films included mythological, social and folk themes. He was awarded the Padma Sree by the government of India in the 1960s, recognizing his contribution to the Telugu cinema. After his film career, N.T. Ramarao became a political activist and party leader.
He was born in Nimmakuru, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Andhra-Christian College of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He later received an honorary doctorate from Andhra University.
Many believe Ramarao highlighted Andhra Pradesh's distinct cultural identity, distinguishing it from Madras state, with which it was so often associated.
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POLITICS
NTR formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982. Promoting a new movie, he was asked a question by a person in the audience who asked "ayya, memu mimmalni devudu laga adarincamu, kani meeru maku emi chesaru?"; literaly translated from telugu meant "Sir, we have treated you like a God but what have you done for us". He was so moved by this that he formed TDP and lead to victory in the immediate election, formed a government and ruled the state of AP for a full term. He went into the elections with the slogan 'Atma Gauravam' which meant self-pride.Like his movies, the formation of the party and storming into the assembly was very dramatic. TDP came into power within 9 months of its formation. Initially ridiculed by the Congress that state politics is not like movie acting among others, TDP was considered a no match for the congress, with the local representatives unheard, the complete burden rested on the shoulders of NTR and true to his charisma he won the elections with a landslide majority. Among other reasons why he won the elections was no real alternative to the Congress, lack of development, unemployment etc. He was very well supported by the Ramoji Rao who gave wide publicity through Telugu daily Eenadu. NTR himself contested elections from the consituency of Gudivada in Krishna District.During the first term as Chief Minister of AP, he got into the costumes of Swami Vivekananda and tried to govern the entire state solely on idealogical terms which later proved to be disastrous as he lost the elections after serving a full term of 5 years. Among the most significant change he made was to abolish the Legislative Council of the State of Andhra Pradesh citing reason that it was a non-performing body which just a burden on the state exchequer. Among the lesser known were the educational reforms he brought about in the state, where he overhauled the entire state education syllabus for the schools. NTR lost the subsequent elections held in 1989 mainly to do with his political inexperience and strong central government lead by Rajiv Gandhi among others. But during the same period he gained valuable experience and had people like N Chandrababu Naidu, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao (both Sons-in-Law) in his party.Even though he lost the 1989 elections, he shot to fame at the national level and was capable of uniting many regional parties and formed a Third Front with parties like Janata Dal as an alternative to Congress. He offered no competition against PV Narasimha Rao when he was chosen to be the Prime Minister of India, citing that he was proud that an Andhrudu (Andhrite) would hold the highest office in the country.
NTR stormed back to power in 1994 when he promised he would offer rice at Rs2/Kg and to make AP an "Alcohol Free" state. True to his word he kept his promises only to burden the state exchequer. He also faced serious problems within his party because of the interference from his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi in party and government affairs. Foreseeing the imminent threat of the de-stabilising wave within the party commaradre, N Chandra Babu Naidu lead a sudden revolt and split TDP into two where the political careers of more than 180 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) was at stake. Mr Naidu survived NTRs onslaught when NTR appraoched the public for an opinion and went on to break the record held by NTR as the longest serving Chief Minister of AP making a mark for himself. The break-up of the party and the drama that took place on the Tank-Bund (road connecting Hyderabad and Secunderabad on the banks of Hussain Sagar) were probably the last significant events in NTR's life.
The loss of power and the subsequent events can be summmed up as the start of anti-climax in NTRs life with a majority of people believing that Lakshmi Parvathi was responsible for what would otherwise have been the greatest life lived by an Andhrite since Sri Krishna Devarayalu (a 15th Century King). Officially he died of a severe heart stroke but there are conspiricy theorists who believe he had high traces of steroids in his blood which were unacceptable for a man of that age. The entire state was shocked to hear the news of his death and paid homage in a way only a king receives. His funeral was a state-affair which set the then world-record.
It is believed that he could have become the Prime Minister of India, as the third-front won the national elections and was strugling to find a leader who was acceptable to all the parties. Mr Naidu went on record that he would have supported NTR as the the PM as the third-front was his brain child but it was six-months too late for what would have been a fitting climax to a great person.
NTR was survived by seven sons and four daughters, his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi, and millions of loyal fans.

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