The announcement made by YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to rename Krishna district as NTR district in the name of legendary actor and Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao has pushed the TDP leadership to a corner.
The TDP leaders sought to create a controversy over the issue, questioning the moral credentials of Jagan to use NTR’s name.
There were contradictory statements from ministers – one said the TDP government was already considering the proposal to rename Krishna district as NTR district, while another minister said Jagan was only playing to the gallery to create confusion among the TDP cadre.
The TDP also tried to prove others against Jagan.
A section of farmers’ association leaders and party leaders opposed Jagan’s move, stating that the district got its name from the holy river of Krishna which had made the area fertile with its waters. They vehemently opposed dropping the name of the river from the district.
On Monday, controversial transgender actor Tamanna also opposed Jagan’s proposal. She demanded that the district should be named after famous Kapu leader late Vangaveeti Ranga and even took up a silent protest near his statue in Vijayawada.
However, Jagan has the masterstroke to counter all these attacks from the TDP and its supporters. It is learnt soon after coming to power, he would reorganise the state into 20 districts from the existing 13 districts.
As part of that, Gudivada or Machilipatnam would become a new district and since Nimmakuru, the birthplace of NTR would fall in the new district, it would be named as NTR district.
So, original Krishna district including Vijayawada and Krishna delta region would remain as it is. This would not only satisfy NTR fans, but also those who are opposing dropping of Krishna river name from the district!
