Lakshmi Parvathi, wife of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N T Rama Rao has alleged that AP CM Chandrababu Naidu was responsible for the film Lakshmi's NTR not being released in the state.
The Election Commission had previously refused to allow the movie to be screened in Andhra, after a complaint alleged that it depicted Chandrababu Naidu negatively and also went against the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the Lok Sabha elections, as it could influence voters.
Speaking to reporters in Tirupati on Friday, Lakshmi Parvathi, a leader of the YSRCP said, "The Chandrababu Naidu government has made us go to so many courts and has put us through a lot of trouble. There are no elections in AP now to influence anyone. It can be released now."
She also alleged that Naidu was deliberately halting the film's release.
The biopic by controversial Telugu filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) details the life of N T Rama Rao from the perspective of Lakshmi Parvathi, his second wife.
Last month, high drama marred RGV’s visit to Vijayawada as the police sent him back from the airport to Hyderabad. This, after he planned to address the media on the road, as a hotel denied him permission to hold a press conference.
While the film released in Telangana, there is a strict ban in Andhra still in place against its release. Last week, three theatres in Kadapa district had their licences suspended after they screened Lakshmi's NTR despite the Election Commission's ruling not to screen it.
TDP members have alleged that the film portrayed Chandrababu Naidu in a negative manner. A TDP MLA had also lodged a police complaint, raising objections to a song in the film called ‘Vennupotu’, as it suggested that Naidu rose to power after he ‘backstabbed’ N T Rama Rao.
NTR had married Parvathi, his biographer, just before the 1994 elections, which saw TDP returning to power in the state. However, her growing interference in party affairs and administration upset NTR's son-in-law, Naidu, who staged an internal coup and took control of the TDP in 1995. NTR had launched a campaign against Naidu for 'backstabbing'. He passed away in January 1996 at the age of 72.