Mohan Babu let off with 'warning'

The storm over Telugu film star and Rajya Sabha member Mohan Babu's attack on Telugu Desam party leader Shankar Reddy ended rather tamely, with the party letting him off the hook with a mere ''warning''.

Surprisingly, the party has also decided to ignore the star's outbursts --Mohan Babu went to the extent of saying that he was paying the price for betraying the late N T Rama Rao -- against party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

Chaired by Naidu, the party's politburo took serious note of the actor's diatribe but did not take any disciplinary action. The meeting, attended by party general secretaries Lal Jan Basha, C Ramachandraiah and P Manik Reddy, asked Mohan Babu not to indulge in such activities.

Briefing the media about the meeting, the party general secretaries said even Minor Irrigation Minister B Gopalakrishna Reddy was pulled up for ''his unwarranted behaviour in connection with the Tirupati episode''.

The meeting felt that the MP's statements against the party leadership tarnished the TD's image besides giving a jolt to the cadre.

''Mohan Babu's argument that the incident was a personal matter and had nothing to do with the party was unfortunate. In political life, every moment of leaders is watched by the people,'' the TDP politburo said. The ''personal'' dispute would have been resolved easily if the party's intervention was sought.

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Party can't interfere in a 'personal dispute': Mohan Babu