Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar unveiled the 9.3 feet statue of the man, who made the Telugu’s proud and fought all his life for upholding the self-respect of his race.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj, TDP chief Chandra Babu Naidu, Union Minister Purandeswari, Hari Krishna, Bala Krishna, Jr. NTR and Nandamuri Lakshmi Parvati, widow of the late leader were present. Apart from them union ministers Jairam Ramesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Pallamraju, Jaipal Reddy, Chiranjeevi, Killi Kruparani, Sarve Satyanarayana, BJP top leaders L K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Ravi Sankar Prasad, Arun Jaitley and SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were among those who attended the ceremony.
Sonia absent
Congress president and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi was conspicuous by her absence at the programme. She heeded the advice of senior MPs of the state who met her on Monday and asked her not to attend the programme. They told her as NTR fought all his life against the Congress, her attending the programme would send wrong signals to the people.
When media questioned about her absence, senior leader and MP V Hanumanta Rao said it was at their advice that Sonia Gandhi abstained from the programme. He said as NTR led a party that opposed Congress, Sonia Gandhi attending the programme would have sent wrong signals to the people.