NTR statue fete: Sonia abstains, PM attends

Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi appears to be very much convinced by the argument of her party MPs from Andhra Pradesh that she should not attend the function to unveil the statue of Telugu Desam Party founder president N T Rama Rao on parliament premises on Tuesday, because NTR was a bitter critic of  the Congress party and a staunch opponent of Indira Gandhi family.

Apparently convinced by their argument, Sonia stayed away from the unveiling of NTR statue in parliament house on Tuesday. Her son Rahul Gandhi also abstained from the function. However, prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, AICC in-charge of Andhra affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad, Veerappa Moily and a few Congress MPs attended the function.

TDP, however, tried to politicise Sonia’s absence at the function. “It is unfortunate that Sonia Gandhi chose to stay away from the function.  It is an insult to the entire Telugu community. She should have made it to the function to pay respects to the leader who had brought new name and fame to the Telugu land,” TDP parliamentary party leader Nama Nageshwara Rao said.