Bangarupalem bypolls: Chiranjeevi to campaign for Congress in Karnataka

HYDERABAD: Praja Rajyam Party President K Chiranjeevi will tomorrow campaign for the Congress party in the by-election to Bangarupalem Assembly constituency in Karnataka.

Union Minister of State for Railways K Muniyappa invited Chiranjeevi to campaign for the Congress considering the huge fan following of the actor-turned-politician in Karnataka. There is also a sizable Telugu population in the constituency.

Chiranjeevi will also campaign for the Congress-DMK combine in the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, PRP sources said.

AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K V Tangabalu spoke to Chiranjeevi separately over phone and requested him to campaign for the party.

In fact, Chiranjeevi had a meeting with AICC chief Sonia Gandhi a few days ago wherein she requested him to be a star campaigner for the Congress in the Tamil Nadu elections.

Accordingly, Chiranjeevi will campaign in Tamil Nadu on April 8 and 9. He is later expected to campaign for the Congress in Kharagpur in West Bengal, where there are a large number of Telugu voters.

The PRP will be formally merged with the Congress mid-May after the completion of Assembly elections in five states. Chiranjeevi has invited Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for a massive public meeting proposed to be held near Vijayawada for the merger function.