Mahesh Babu's political campaign: Here's what Namrata says about his affiliation with TDP

Superstar Mahesh Babu's wife Namrata Shirodkar has opened up on the rumours about him campaigning for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh and denied his affiliation with the party.

It is known that Mahesh Babu's sister Padmavathi Ghattamaneni is married to Jayadev aka Jaya Galla, who is the managing director of the Amara Raja Group. His brother-in-law had contested the 16th Lok Sabha for TDP from Guntur constituency and won the election with a big margin of votes. It was reported that the superstar had campaigned for him during these elections back in 2014.

Of late, Mahesh Babu was seen in the company of the Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, on various occasion. This fueled the speculations that he would campaign for the TDP in the impending election and he may even contest for the elections in the state.

Speaking to an English daily, Namrata Shirodkar slammed the reports about his political ambitions. "My husband respects what Naidu has done for the state, but the progress of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is a matter of great pride for him. Just because he is seen with Naidu, it doesn't make him a political figure," Deccan Chronicle quoted Mahesh Babu's wife as saying.

When asked about Mahesh Babu campaigning for the TDP, Namrata Shirodkar said, "Not at all. Mahesh is not campaigning for any political party. Nor does he intend to contest any elections or pursue any kind of political ambitions." She added, "Mahesh has no time to do anything apart from shooting for his films. And any free time he has is family time. He doesn't even step out to meet friends."

Namrata also spoke about the government's retaliatory moves against her husband for the non-payment of GST. She said, "When you know the truth is on your side when you have dutifully paid all your taxes but you are still targeted for non-payment of dues, then what do you do? You grin and bear the harassment because you have nothing to hide."