Hyderabad, February 07: APART from the desperately needed numbers Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) will bring to the Congress with Sunday’s merger, its president K Chiranjeevi will meet another need felt in the mother party.
Having lost Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to an accident and his son Jagan Mohan Reddy to his own ambition, the Congress needs a leader who can bring in the crowds to party events. Chiranjeevi as the reigning Mega Star of Telugu cinema continues to be a crowd puller, and Congress bosses in the state think this will help their party add to its core vote bank of 30 per cent or so in every constituency in the state. Congress leaders in Andhra and Telangana regions are quick to say that the PRP vote share of 18 per cent in the 2009 election will now automatically accrue to their party.
But election veterans say it doesn’t always add up like that. Especially in Telangana, the presence of a Praja Rajyam component in the Congress may not go down well with voters because Chiranjeevi was one of the few leaders in AP who took a decisive stance against separate statehood for Telangana. In the days after the Dec. 9, 2009 statement of Union home minister P Chidambaram all but promising a separate state provoked him to declare his support for a united state. This sent his popularity soaring in Coastal Andhra but he was widely reviled in Telangana, where his films had always done well.
His supporters in the region felt betrayed and it can be said with certainty that hundreds of fans tore down his posters from their bedroom walls. Two of the PRP MLAs from Telangana deserted his side and made common cause with the separatist TRS.
Congress MLA (Medchal) K Laxma Reddy says the merger will do more harm than good to the Congress in Telangana while it may or may not benefit it in coastal Andhra.
However in anticipation of a more secure government, Congress MLAs are all for Chiranjeevi in their party. One senior Congress leader from Nizamabad said, ”The PRP got considerable votes in Telangana. Chiranjeevi is a big draw. He will help us in bringing crowds to public meetings, which is essential during elections.” Political observers say that the merger will serve the Congress well in case it bites the bullet and goes in for a bifurcation of the state.
Having stood up for coastal Andhra interests, Chiranjeevi would is likely to be more acceptable to the voters of that region rather than the TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu, who has waffled endlessly on the Telangana question.
–Agencies