On the 17th death anniversary of TDP founder and former Chief Minister N T Ramarao, many leaders paid their homage to the doyen at NTR Ghats today (January 18). The party President Nara Chandrababu Naidu who is on his massive walkathon, "Vastunna Mee Kosam" paid his respects to the founder enroute.

His son and the future of the party, Nara Lokesh along with his father-in-law and versatile actor N Bala Krishna garlanded the scion's statue in Rasool pura at Hyderabad in the early hours and commenced the NTR Amara Jyoti rally organized by the All India NTR fans association supremo Ms Rajeswari.

The rally shall commence here and end at the NTR Ghats, in the city's busy tank bund area. The whole place is flooded with fans. Many celebrities and elite politicians attended the occasion. NTR was the hope of the masses and ruled the state since 1983 to 1995 for three consecutive terms. He was the first non-congress Chief Minister of the state and kept the mammoth party at bay till his death in 1996. The leader succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest months after he was ousted cfrom power by his own party men. (Wishesh AarKay)