Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, better known as NTR was a legendary actor and successful politician who remains a popular name till date. On Friday, as the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's birthday dawned, Twitterati came out in droves to pay homage. Thus far, there have been nearly 50,000 tweets using the hashtag "#LegendaryNTRJayanthi", turning it into a trending topic.
NTR starred in a series of critically acclaimed films, becoming a legendary figure in Tamil cinema. Among other accolades, he was awarded three National Film Awards, the Rashtrapati Awards and even the Padma Shri. His career as an actor, director and screenwriter was followed by an equally illustrious political career that saw him become a multi-term Chief Minister and the leading the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
It is at this juncture that our article begins, with the NTR-led Telugu Desam Party emerging victorious in the state Assembly elections in January 1983. A dive into the FPJ archives indicates that even as a politician NTR appears to have harboured a penchant for the dramatic. On the eve of the swearing in ceremony, Rama Rao declined to disclose the size of the Cabinet, nor the names of the members of the Ministry. "Let it be a thrilling affair," the FPJ report quotes him as saying.
Addressing a meeting of the legislature party after being unanimously elected its leader, NTR urged party legislators to dedicate themselves to the service of the people and "not to repeat the mistakes of the Congress". In contrast to his predecessors the TDP chief assured that he would have a "compact Cabinet". While the party had won 19 seats int he 293 member Assembly, NTR reportedly told his party that their objective should be to secure the rest of the seats through "constant devotion to the public cause".
Less than a year later, the NTR led party set yet another record, becoming the first regional party to serve as the main Opposition group in the Lok Sabha. Even as the Congress garnered itself a landslide victory, there was, to quote the FPJ headline from 29th December 1984, an "NTR tide in Andhra".
As the FPJ reported, the Chief Minister and President of the ruling Telugu Desam Party had hailed the results of the Lok Sabha polls in the state as "people's victory" and reassertion of their confidence in him and his party.
