All in the power game!

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: A serious power tussle between the self-styled torchbearers is virtually threatening to lead to a stillbirth of the much-hyped political party of film star Chiranjeevi.
Probably, no other political party-in-the-making in the country might have witnessed such a conflict, even before it formally came into being, as the one that is currently bogging the Chiranjeevi camp.
Chiranjeevi is said to be at sea and "thoroughly disturbed" over the goings-on in the camp while his youngest brother and actor Pavan Kalyan -- the man said to be instrumental in shaping Chiru's political moves -- is strangely keeping himself totally away. Pavan is busy reading various books from his huge collection and also preparing for his next film Puli, for which the music is being done by A R Rahman.
There are as many as four major power centres apart from another group that too is rather inevitably getting into this wrangle over the Chiranjeevi party. The main group, supposedly the most prominent, is led by Chiranjeevi's Man Friday and brother-in-law Allu Aravind and friend, guide and philosopher Dr P Mitra Reddy. The second group -- power centre rather -- is headed by the actor's younger brother Nagendra Babu and the third is led by P Vinay Kumar, son of former Union minister P Shiv Shankar. The fourth group comprises ex-CPM functionaries like T V Rao, Vithal and others, who are working under the banner Spark.
On top of all, there is the "Core Committee" that includes Nagendra Babu, Allu Aravind, Vinay Kumar, Mitra Reddy, Prasad Reddy, Brahma Reddy and Sridhar Reddy. Of course, Sridhar Reddy has become inactive for sometime now, reportedly disgusted with the power tussle among the groups. Mitra Reddy too stopped going to the Geeta Arts office, which is now being turned into the Chiranjeevi party office, following differences with some other members of the Core Committee, insiders say.
Aravind had a tough time in pacifying Mitra and bringing him back to the fold, they add.
The first signs of the ongoing tussle came to light the day when Allu Aravind announced that Chiranjeevi would indeed launch his political party in August. Within hours, Nagendra Babu retorted saying nothing had been decided yet and his brother himself would make any announcement on the political party. On Sunday, Nagendra Babu took his turn to formally "confirm" Chiru's plans and exhort the fans to "keep going."
"Everybody knows the kind of rapport between Chiranjeevi and Aravind. In a way Aravind is the Karta, Karma, Kriya on all matters related to Chiru. His brothers, however, would like to break this at a time when Chiru is all set to jump onto the political bandwagon. Friction is, thus, natural," a source close to the 'camp' observed.
On the other hand, Vinay Kumar is "too busy" trying to take control over the party affairs. He has directed Chiranjeevi fan clubs in various districts to open party offices and has virtually taken the state headquarters here into his grip. If the camp insiders are to be believed, Vinay Kumar has already "selected" 120 candidates for as many constituencies and submitted the list to Chiranjeevi.
All this has not gone down well with Aravind, Mitra and even Nagendra Babu. While squabbling among themselves for one-upmanship, they are pulling all stops to keep Vinay at bay. But suddenly, another group, which cannot be ignored at any cost, has also stepped up its act and is seeking its share of glory. Led by All-India Chiranjeevi Yuva Sena general secretary Swami Naidu, who is the bridge between Chiranjeevi and his numerous fans, this group is busy rallying youth and getting them ready for the big show.
Tailpiece: Chiranjeevi is so perturbed with the happenings in his camp that he has decided to take a "break" and fly abroad to an undisclosed location. At least for a fortnight!