Hyderabad, March 30: Arch rivals, Praja Rajyam chief and actor-turned-politician, Mr K. Chiranjeevi and the Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, are brushing up their Tamil to campaign in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
The political rivals in Andhra Pradesh will campaign for rival parties in Tamil Naidu — Mr Chiranjeevi for the DMK-Congress combine and Mr Naidu for Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and allies.
Apart from Tamil Nadu, Mr Chiranjeevi has been asked by the Congress high command to campaign in Puducherry, Kerala and Kharagpur in West Bengal, where there is a large Telugu-speaking population.
While he is happy to campaign in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kharagpur, “I have not made up my mind about Kerala,” he said. “I can speak colloquial Tamil. I lived there for 10 years and can speak fairly good Tamil. I just need to brush up on the latest developments,” Mr Chiranjeevi remarked.
Tamil Nadu has a large Telugu-speaking population in the border areas, where Mr Chiranjeevi is popular. Mr Chiranjeevi’s Tamil Nadu tour is tentatively slated to begin on April 5.
Asked about UPA chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the state in connection with the merger of the PR with the Congress at a public meeting, Mr Chiranjeevi said the meeting has been planned after the elections in the five states. Mr Naidu, who can speak only broken Tamil, plans to campaign mostly in the Telugu-speaking areas.
–Agencies