Andhra Pradesh cabinet urges Centre to confer Bharat Ratna on N T Rama Rao

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh cabinet adopted a resolution on Wednesday, requesting the government of India to confer the country's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna on the late AP Chief Minister N T Rama Rao.

"NTR left an indelible mark not only on the Telugu silver screen but also on the political landscape of the country. We request the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna on the legend. Conferring the award will be like the entire country honouring itself," the AP cabinet said in its resolution.

In an other resolution, the AP state cabinet requested the Centre to build a befitting memorial to the late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in the national capital.

"While memorials have been built for other former prime ministers in New Delhi, mean politics prevented the previous UPA regime from constructing a memorial for PV Narasimha Rao, who initiated economic reforms and put the country's economy on the growth track," the resolution said.

The AP cabinet also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "highly successful" trip to the USA.

"The manner in which Narendra Modi has established cordial relations with various countries, after he took over as Prime Minister, is commendable. His trips to Bhutan, Nepal and Japan as well as the visit of the Chinese president to India have enhanced our country's prestige," the AP cabinet resolution said.

Modi's just concluded trip has given a new direction to Indo-US relations, the resolution noted.

"There is no doubt that Modi's US trip will foster world peace and eradicate terrorism," it said.

The AP cabinet thanked Modi for selecting the port city of Visakhapatnam to be developed as a smart city with US co-operation.