Mega star and Praja Rajyam Party leader Chiranjeevi is into damage-control exercise after the stunning debacle for the party in the recently concluded Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Praja Rajyam Party chief and film star Chiranjeevi is to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday afternoon to discuss the merger arrangements between the two parties.
Seeking to put its house in order in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress on Monday appointed senior state minister Botsa Satyanarayana as Pradesh Congress Committee president.
Popular Telugu film star-turned-politician Chiranjeevi launched his public contact program on Saturday by undertaking his first visit to Sricilla, a town of handloom weavers in Karimnagar district in the heart of the Telangana region.
A late night telephone call from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi has led to wide-spread speculation that his party legislators might be inducted into the Congress ministry to checkmate rebel Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. The call from the chief minister, who is currently camping in New Delhi, to the PRP president indicated that the high command was in no mood to be accommodative.
The party is over at least for those who were hoping for a long political innings for Praja Rajyam, which had been launched with the ambitious goal of social justice.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi has chosen the sun as the election symbol for his Praja Rajyam Party. The Election Commission of India today issued the orders, allotting the new symbol to the 11-month-old party. Disappointed with the party's electoral performance, in which it won only 18 assembly seats, the megastar decided to change the symbol.
Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi is expected to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, raising hopes of an alliance between the two parties in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh.
With Andhra Pradesh assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar making a formal announcement in the House on Monday accepting the merger of Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress, the chapter of the Chiranjeevi-led party has come to an end in the political history of the state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday left for Delhi, where he is expected to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and possibly discuss an expansion of his cabinet and Telangana, among other issues. There has been speculation that the chief minister would induct only two legislators of erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party into his cabinet. It is speculated that the cabinet re-jig may take place anytime between January 21 and 28.
The talks between the ruling Congress party and the Praja Rajyam Party for a tie-up for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Monday suffered a major setback.
Telangana supporters continued to target the Telugu film shooting for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
In a major political development, Praja Rajyam Party chief and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi resigned from the state assembly on Thursday, in a bid to throw his weight for a united Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress and the Grand Alliance of the Telugu Desam Party, the Telengana Rashtra Samithi, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India are expected to be locked in a direct contest for electoral supremacy in Andhra Pradesh, with Praja Rajyam Party likely to emerge as a dark horse with its chief Chiranjeevi hoping to do an Obama with his 'change' mantra.
Rattled by the open defiance of its leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asked Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi not to field any nominees for the Rajya Sabha polls, so that there is no threat to party candidates.Chiranjeevi, who met Gandhi on her invitation, assured her that he would get back within two days after holding talks with party leaders.
A case has been registered against the Praja Rajyam party founder and actor Chiranjeevi for conducting road shows beyond 2200 hours at Narasaraopet town here, police said.
There are signs of trouble between the film actor Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party and the Nava Telangana Party over the issue of an alliance or understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even as the NTP president T Devender Goud is scheduled to meet BJP's the prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and the party president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Thursday, Chiranjeevi has ruled out the possibility of a tie up with the saffron party.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti President K Chandrasekhar Rao has ruled out the possibility of his party merging with the Congress on Monday. After the merger of Telgu superstar Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress on Sunday, rumours were abuzz that TRS will do the same.
The Praja Rajyam Party seems to be facing lot of problems even as it is completing one year of its existence shortly and its chief, megastar Chiranjeevi, is celebrating his birthday on Saturday
In a major setback to the Praja Rajyam party of filmstar Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh, the Election Commission of India has rejected its request for a common election symbol on the ground that the party has not contested even a single election so far.
Addressing a meeting of women on the occasion of oath taking by the state committee of women's wing of his party, Chiranjeevi expressed concern over the proliferation of liquor shops, especially in the rural areas and its impact on the law and order and the rural economy and growing atrocities on women.
Megastar Chiranjeevi is likely to get elevated soon to the Rajya Sabha from a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. His candidature is almost certain for one of the four seats that the ruling Congress can win in the biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament from the state, slated for March 30. The Congress, as part of his Praja Rajyam Party's merger deal last year, promised to induct Chiranjeevi into the Union Cabinet by nominating him to Rajya Sabha.
A new government has emerged in Andhra Pradesh with the induction of two legislators of the Praja Rajyam Party into the N Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet in Hyderabad on Thursday. State Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ganta Srinivasa Rao, a member of the legislative assembly, and C Ramachandraiah, a member of the legislative council, at a brief function in the Raj Bhavan.
As the relay hunger strike by the legislators from the Telangana region continued on third day on Monday, demanding the Centre to start the process of formation of separate state, the legislators from Andhra and Rayalseema regions were becoming active once again to bring counter pressure on the Central government.
Fast-unto-death by Congress Member of Parliament L Rajagopal and several other leaders, pressing for a unified Andhra Pradesh continued on Wednesday even as Chiranjeevi-led Praja Rajyam Party came under pressure from its MLAs to end its support for a separate Telangana.
There was more political drama in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana issue with 11 members of the Praja Rajyam Party tendering their resignation.
It was a mixed bag for star contenders in the fray at the hustings. While Shatrughan Sinha, Jayaprada, Chiranjeevi and Navjot Singh Sidhu tasted victory in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, star contestants like Vinod Khanna, Nafisa Ali and Ambareesh bit the dust.
It was a mixed bag for the many film personalities who contested the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh. Of the twelve personalities from the film industry who had contested the elections, only four managed to win.
Actresses-turned-politicians Vijaya Santhi and R K Roja are now apparently leaving no occasion to lash out at Chiranjeevi, who launched his Praja Rajyam Party last month.
Singannagudem, a Dalit dominated small village in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh, received a pleasant surprise on Saturday when mega-star-turned-politician Chiranjeevi paid them a surprise visit. The chief of the Praja Rajyam party also participated in a community lunch to mark the 53rd death anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar. Chiranjeevi sat down on the floor with other villagers and shared their meal.Chiranjeevi's gesture floored the Dalit community in the village.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Praja Rajyam Party chief K Chiranjeevi on Thursday met Governor E S L Narasimhan separately, amidst the speculation that the state is heading for President's rule.
As many as 16 Congress MLAs backing YSR Congress leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy cross-voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against Kiran Reddy government, which survived because of the support from Praja Rajyam Party and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
The second day of the bandh call for Friday on the Telangana issue stands withdrawn in view of Christmas, a joint action committee of Telangana leaders has announced.
Praja Rajyam Party chief K Chiranjeevi on Tuesday night claimed that people of Andhra Pradesh were longing to see him as state chief minister in real life rather than in reel life.
Chiranjeevi has unveiled an attractive package for the poor to insulate them from the impact of rising prices. PRP has promised that if it comes to power it will provide each poor family a package of 25 kg rice, 1 kg edible oil, 1 kg pulses, 2 kg onion, 1 kg salt and half kg tamarind -- all for mere Rs 100. Addressing a meeting in Nellore district, Chiranjeevi pointed out that an earning of Rs 100 after a day of hard work was insufficient to feed a poor family.
"Tirupati is fixed. I may also contest from my native Narsapuram in West Godavari district if I decide to stand from a second constituency," Chiranjeevi told media persons at Rajahmundry on Wednesday.
The police said incident occurred this evening when he was participating in a road show in Husnabad mandal of Karimnagar district. "As he waved back his hands in response to the reception by his fans and supporters, his hand touched an over head electric wire and he collapsed on the roof of his vehicle", an onlooker said.
According to sources, there are several irregularities in Chiranjeevi's application. Instead of the requisite 100 signatories of party workers for registration, Chiranjivi has enclosed just 88 applications. (The actor considers 8 as his lucky number, so Chiranjeevi has submitted only 88 applications)
The Praja Rajyam on Wednesday asked the Andhra Pradesh government to conduct a probe into the allegations of irregularities against a blood bank run by party chief Chiranjeevi.
The political migrations to Praja Rajyam, floated recently by Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi, continued with former Telugu Desam Party minister K Vidyadhar Rao on Monday joining the party along with his followers.Rao, who held several key positions in TDP during his 25-year-long political career, was expelled from the regional party a few months ago for openly supporting Chiranjeevi and predicting that the matinee idol would become the next chief minister.
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