Chiranjeevi launches his PR
Over 10 lakh fans turned up at a massive rally at Tirupati in AP to watch theatrics as super star Chiranjeevi announced his block-buster debut in politics, declared his party’s name and unveiled its flag.
By Appaji Reddam, ET Bureau |
TIRUPATI: Over 10 lakh fans turned up at a massive rally at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to watch the theatrics as super star Chiranjeevi announced his block-buster debut in politics, declared his party���s name and unveiled its flag.He chose birthday of his idols, Mother Teresa, to announce these details.
���I am overwhelmed with people���s response. I can achieve whatever I want through your support,��� he told scores of people who were jostling to have a glimpse of him.
Praja Rajyam, his party, is expected to emerge as a third-force in the state and this could send jitters to the ruling Congress and the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), both of whom are aiming to win the upcoming elections.
The TDP was launched amidst similar fanfare by actor and former chief minister N T Rama Rao way back in 1982. NTR spoke of Telugu Pride at the launch of his party.
But Chiru desires a Santosha Andhra Pradesh (Happy Andhra Pradesh). ���I know the pain of the people, their woes. I have always played roles which were close to weaker sections of the society. I know about Ganji (liquid rice gruel) as well as Benzi (Benz car) My party belongs to women, backward classes, farmers, workers and the youth,��� he declared.
The actor made it clear that Praja Rajyam would be a secular party, working for the up-liftment of minorities and economically backward classes. He used the common phrase that the rich were growing richer and the poor remaining poorer to summarise his economic concerns. He said his party would strive to ensure that the benefits of economic growth would trickle down to the poor. Re-distributing wealth is on the agenda, signalling a possible alliance with the Left in the coming polls.
Political parties such as CPI, CPM, Telangana Rashtra Samithi and BJP have already gone on record to say that they are open to future alliances if Chiru���s agenda is in sync with theirs.
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Chiru echoed the sentiments of the Left, who have opposed allocating farm land to promote the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the country. SEZs are tax havens meant to promote exports, but land allocation to these zones has been a controversial issue.
He promised a corruption-free regime, while criticising the Congress ruled government in the state. ���Corruption in the state is alarming. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi said the end user (poor) only get only 19 paise out of a rupee spent by government. Our party will ensure all the money goes to the beneficiaries���, he said.
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