NTR was everyone's matinee icon until he stepped into politics. The Telugu people of all the communities used to admire him as a true screen god. There were times when his photographs in the get up of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama decorated the walls of many houses irrespective of castes. But things changed ever since he started Telugu Desam Party.
Though he was welcomed by the entire state of the then Andhra Pradesh, after the victory, the people of his community started getting polarized and projected him as an icon of their community.
Slowly, the actor turned politician who was liked by millions was confined to a particular group. The group politics has seen the light since then.
Under the influence of Chandrababu Naidu, all the leaders, businessmen and landlords of that community joined together to support Telugu Desam Party. The quid pro quo acts were started in AP politics in the form of allotting government lands for some businesses etc. The exploitation of power was also taken off in a big way for the benefit of one particular community under the aegis of Chandrababu.
This led to corrupt the minds of many youngsters. They started caste groups in professional colleges and used NTR's image as their power and pride.
Chandrababu never took any care to safeguard the image of his father in law as a leader for all. He used him for caste polarization for the need of money and manpower.
Eventually, the people understood the caste mania that's concentrated in TDP and started distancing from it consciously. By 2019, the anti wave spread big and led to the worst defeat of the TDP.
The situation is so worse now that if NTR's picture is shown, it is not understood as the symbol for pride of Telugus, but only as the arrogance of a particular community. The credit goes to Chandrababu and people around him who downsized him as a mere icon of a community.
However, I sign off on a note that NTR is a legendary actor and politician who brought an identity to the entire Telugus. His birth centenary is a moment of celebration for all the Telugus.
As an admirer of NTR, I also suggest TDP to disown him completely. It is known how he was backstabbed by the present TDP supremo. People are no longer fools to accept Chandrababu garlanding NTR's statue. They understand it as the height of hypocrisy.
Samyukta Dantuluri
