It is an open secret that the Telugu Association of North America mostly comprises pro-Telugu Desam Party members belonging to a particular community.
Though the organisers invite people from all walks of life from the Telugu states, many invitees keep away from TANA meets for the simple reason that the audiences are dominated by TDP supporters.
Of course, celebrities from Tollywood attend to entertain the audiences just out of their craze for film stars.
During the conference period, one could notice parallel meetings by the TDP leaders at TANA. If there is any talk critical of the TDP, the speakers would be booed by the audiences.
Same thing happened to Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav.
The TANA organisers sent an invitation him to attend the conference since he represented the national political party that came to power for a second term in the country.
But when Ram Madhav started addressing the conference, he was at the receiving end, as the audiences shouted at him and booed him, for the simple reason that he made critical remarks against the TDP and its president N Chandrababu Naidu.
“This was the handiwork of Nara Lokesh supporters, who exposed their dirty brains. They insulted a national leader like Ram Madhav. The TANA meetings have become gatherings of TDP bandwagons, who have damaged the prestige of the Telugu people in the US,” BJP Andhra Pradesh unit president Kanna Lakshminarayana said.
In the first place, Ram Madhav should not have attended TANA meeting without understanding its background and the composition of members.
Just because the organisers have sponsored his travel and stay, he should not have gone there and made anti-TDP speeches. And he had to pay the penalty for the same!
