Thaindian News

Hyderabad, April 20 (IANS) Nandamuri Balakrishna, popular Telugu actor and brother-in-law of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, Wednesday denied any succession battle in the party and termed it the media’s imagination.

Balakrishna, who called on Naidu to greet him on his birthday, dismissed reports of a rift between the families of his late father N.T. Rama Rao and that of Chandrababu Naidu. NTR, as he was popularly known, founded the TDP.

“It is all the imagination of the media,” Balakrishna told reporters.

The denial came amid reports of a cold war between the two families on who should be the successor.

While Naidu is trying to groom his son N. Lokesh to be his successor, N. Harikrishna, also an actor and a son of the legendary NTR, is keen to see his son, cine star Junior NTR, as the next TDP boss.

Though Lokesh is married to Balakrishna’s daughter, NTR’s family members do not want him to succeed Naidu, who turned 61 Wednesday.

Harikrishna, a TDP leader and member of Rajya Sabha, recently released a letter stating that he would lead a movement against corruption.

He created a flutter by stating in his open letter to people that those who did not even have a small piece of land had earned thousands of crores of rupees after joining politics. This was being seen as an indirect attack on Naidu.

Neither Harikrishna nor Junior NTR have come forward to deny media reports of the tussle between the two families. However, Harikrishna, NTR’s eldest son, last week called on Naidu to invite him to the May 5 wedding of Junior NTR.

Junior NTR is popular among the youth and his father is keen to cash in on his popularity by grooming him as the next TDP chief.

Harikrishna had sided with Naidu when the latter led a revolt against his father in 1995. Sidelined by Naidu, he later distanced himself but returned to the party-fold before the 2009 elections.

Naidu had unseated his father-in-law from power after the alleged growing interference of his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi in the party and government affairs. NTR, who had accused Naidu of backstabbing him, died in January 1996.