Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, the Carnatic music maestro hailing from Andhra Pradesh, who passed away in Chennai on Tuesday, was caught up in a huge row way back in the early 1980s when the Telugu Desam Party stormed into power for the first time under the leadership of NT Rama Rao (NTR) in the State.

The party decided to do away with all academies including the Sangeet Natak Akademi as an austerity measure.

Infuriated by the move, Balamurali reportedly vowed not to set foot in Andhra Pradesh again, as long as NTR was in power. Later, he clarified in an interview to a Telugu television channel that he had not said he would not set foot in AP, but that he would not sing in the State unless the TDP Government revoked the move and restored the academies. Coming as it did from the maestro, it was quite a snub for the fledgling TDP Government then and it created quite a stir. However, the TDP Government under NTR did not accede to his demand and Balamurali also stuck to his guns. Afterwards , the TDP Government agreed to revive some of the academies and Balamurali was also invited by the government for a felicitation.

“It was made clear to me that I need not sing and that I was being invited only for a felicitation. But I myself insisted on singing at the function, as the State Government had agreed to my demand,” he said. Playing it down, Balamurali later said in the interview, “There was nothing personal between me and NTR. We were good friends and I sang more songs for him in his mythological films than for any other actor. But I had to do something when the government announced the move and I did it.”

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