Balaiah eyes CM's post, raises eyebrows in TDP

Hyderabad: Stirring a debate within the Telugu Desam Party, film actor Nandamuri Balakrishna said that he too is nurturing the hope of becoming the chief minister, if given a chance.

Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination for the Hindupur Assembly seat amid much fanfare, Balakrishna spoke to reporters, where he spoke his mind. Asked whether he would become CM, Balakrishna asked, 'Who would say no to such an offer. Let us see how luck will be.' Balakrishna, however, said he never had any ambition for power.

Balakrishna's comments created a stir among party leaders who were seen discussing what would be the actor-politicians moves. There has been a demand from a section of TDP leaders and fans that a family member of NTR take lead role in the party. Some even demanded that the family member of NTR be made the chief minister.

Describing Hindupur as his 'native' place, Balakrishna said he feels fortunate to contest from the constituency which was earlier represented by his father NTR.

Earlier, Balakrishna, who along with his wife Vasundhara and daughters Brahmani and Tejaswini, arrived in Hindupur from Bangalore. He offered prayers at Suguru Anjaneyaswamy temple and came to Hindupur tahsildar's office in a rally amid funfare for filing his nomination papers.

A good number of saffron party cadre waving the BJP flags also joined the rally. The BJP is contesting the Anantapur assembly seat in the district.

Later in the evening, Balakrishna started his campaign in Hindupur with a massive roadshow. Balakrishna, who never criticised YSRC or its leaders all these days, trained his guns on the party saying,

'The YSRC's agenda is 'arachaka vadam' (anarchy) while the TDP's is 'abhivruddhi vadam' (development). You have to choose whether to bring into power an experienced party or a party whose leader went to jail for 16 months.'

Sitting MLA Abdul Ghani, MLC Samanthakamani, leader Ambika Lakshminarayana and others participated in the rally.

Further exposing the internal differences between the family members of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and actor Jr NTR, Balakrishna tried to play down his non-appearance in TDP campaign trail.

'No one will be personally invited by the TDP leadership to campaign for the party. Whoever feels that they are with the party, they should come forward and canvass for the party,' he said.

The film actor went on adding that it was the responsibility of all the members of Nandamuri family to make the TDP win the ensuing elections hands down.

Balakrishna's oblique attack on Jr NTR has come exactly a day after his son-in-law Nara Lokesh made light of Jr NTR's 'self-imposed isolation' from the party.

Soon after Balaiah's salvos at Jr NTR, his father Harikrishna interacted with the media and expressed displeasure at not being allotted party ticket for the ensuing polls.

He said he had sought party ticket either for Penamaluru Assembly seat in Krishana district or Hindupur LS seat in Anantapur district.

Assets worth Rs 200 crore

In the affidavit submitted to the returning officer, Balakrishna mentioned his assets to a tune of Rs 104.85 crore and also the assets of his wife (Rs 92.32 crore) and son (Rs 17.54). He has shown Rs 15.73 crore as debt to government.