Chiranjeevi launches Prajarajyam

Chiranjeevi launched his political party Prajarajyam after months of deliberations. Roughly translated, it means People's State / People's Rule, the name sounds very good. The meeting at Tirupathi, where he announced the name, was huge. Lakhs of people cheered him while Chiranjeevi went on narrating his rags-to-riches life story.

It was a dramatic speech. It was emotional. But it was disappointing. It was no different from all those run-of-the-mill political speeches.

He started by narrating his childhood. He spoke a lot about the days when he had to live with only one meal per day -all the stuff that his ardent fans would expect from him. He delivered what they expected. He was his usual self while delivering this part of the speech.

But, while handling the policies part of his speech, he found it difficult to handle the prepared speech. He fumbled at several places while reading out from the papers.He did not seem to have prepared well.

What about the party's policies? Prajarajyam was no different from its seniors. It is as loud as the other parties are, while talking about social justice, women, Backward classes, Youth etc. It was as ambiguous as Congress and TDP are, when it came to contentious issues. Chiranjeevi skillfully avoided spelling out his policy on the crucial issues like Telangana, SC reservations, Kapu reservation etc. He said he would frame his policy after thoroughly discussing the subjects. But, there was no mention about the timeline. He left the When and how of these discussions to the imagination of the people. It is likely that this policy will prevail until the elections.

There was no mention about prohibition. But, he spoke of controlling liquor. Again no mention about the details.

Overall, it was a cinematic speech for a political audience. Chiranjeevi disappointed me.

Chiranjeevi spoke at last

Chiranjeevi broke the silence and announced his entry into politics. Nothing was new in it. World knows it already. Did he say anything new? Anything about the party and its policies?

Nothing! He delivered a well prepared speech. Answered some expected questions on almost expected lines. But, nothing is new in today's press briefing!

He wore his characteristic smile on his face and Spoke in that well known style. He tried to make friends with the media persons. He conducted the entire media meet as one of those run-of-the-mill Telugu film related media events.

For a question about his understanding about the burning issues facing the State, he replied that you are here to tell me about the problems. I will look into all the issues and respond to them in the appropriate way. His immaturity was evident on this occassion.

He postponed answers for all the important questions, to Aug 26, the day he formalises the party.Let us wait until Aug 26 for more on the new party.

Today's press conference was a mere formality.

Chirajeevi to enter politics?

Chiranjeevi is undoubtedly the most popular actor amongst the contemporary Telugu movie stars. Of late, there have been lot of speculative stories doing rounds about his possible entry into politics. What are his qualifications to be a political leader?

• He has the charisma, the mass following and the necessary social status.. a.k.a caste to take a plunge into politics.
• More importantly, he has that political appetite. He is clever in managing behind the scene political menouvres in Tollywood. (That the Telugu Movie industry is a big political playground is another interesting story, which will be discussed on these pages in future.)
  
• He has also become popular through his social service activities like running a Blood bank. Of course, when compared with the mega mass appeal that he has, his social service can be considered minuscule. But undoubtedly, the blood bank brought him more humane touch to his already public face.

Last week, specualtion ruled the pages and waves in the Telugu Media about his possible plunge into politics. Media constructed stories, conducted surveys and published the reports - all positive for his political arangetram. The news is so intense that people thought it is either today or tomorrow. After three days of speculation, Chiru came out with a statement which is neither a 'yes' nor a 'no' to the grand opening. He has effectively postponed the decision for some more time.

But why this delay in decision making? There are many concerns..

• caste calculations. This is very significant, owing to the caste based churning that is currently taking place in AP politics
• Telangana movement.
  
• Money
  
• Fear of failure. Though a hard-core Chiranjeevi fan may not buy this argument, it is one factor, he cannot afford to ignore. Any failure to capture power, will spell doom to his political career. Five years of hibernation (sitting in the opp. benches) will kill him not only as a politician but also as a movie hero. So he cannot ignore this risk.
  

One curious observation:
If Chiranjeevi launches a political party and supports separate telangana cause, he is sure to get overwhelming support. That would be real trouble for TRS!

Another (more curious) observation:
If Chiranjeevi's party wins power in Telangana State, and loses in Andhra state, will he become the Chief Minister of Telangana?