Posani rejects Nandi Award following Nara Lokesh's 'NRA' jibe

Irked over IT minister

Nara Lokesh

’s jibe labelling Tollywood personalities as 'Non-Resident Andhras', actor Posani Krishna Murali said that he is rejecting his Nandi award given to him in the best supporting actor category for the film ‘Temper’.

Criticizing the IT minister for saying that people who are not in possession of Aadhaar and voter identity cards of Andhra Pradesh are criticising the government's selection of Nandi awardees, he said, “How can someone be branded as non-resident Andhra for criticising the manner in which selection for Nandi awards is made? TDP president and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu too had criticised the previous governments. But he was never called a non-resident. How are non-residents selected as jury members?”

"Don't Andhra people have properties and interests in Telangana? KCR never criticised the Andhra people, he always found fault with Andhra leaders. If the Telangana people had a similar mindset like Lokesh, it would be difficult to survive in that state," he added.

He said that only if the state government conduct an IVRS survey for Nandi awards, he will accept the award. He further said that many people feel that there is a lot of injustice in the selection process. Requesting Chandrababu Naidu to cancel all the awards and redo the process through IVRC method. “Even if I don't get any award, I don't mind. If he doesn't cancel these awards, I won't touch the Nandi Award again in my entire life. If the government corrects its mistakes, I would be happy about it," he added.