Adding salt to injury

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh finds itself stifled as unrest among farmers – over forcible acquisition of lands and the administration's failure to supply fertilizers this season – is mounting. Now, the weavers' deaths have left the government totally beleaguered. Seizing the opportunity, opposition parties in the state are adding salt to the injury by upping their ante against the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy administration, espousing the cause of the distressed farmers and weavers. At least six weavers in Sircilla region of Karimnagar district died in the last one week. Three of the six had committed suicide, while others were reportedly starvation deaths. At a time when it is battling hard to pacify the restive farmers, the growing deaths of weavers have come as a rude shock to the state government. All claims of Rajasekhara Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues over the series of measures being implemented for the welfare of weavers proved hollow. Only last week, the Congress government claimed to have extended a relief package of Rs 1.5 lakh each to families of weavers who either committed suicide or died of starvation over the past few years. "We have provided housing and also set up a textile park in the region to improve their working conditions and ensure better livelihood," the government claimed, as a reaction to Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi's visit to Sircilla. Besides, a loan waiver scheme for weavers was also under consideration, it said. As if calling the government's bluff, three weavers ended their lives on Saturday. "What is the government's answer to this," Chiranjeevi questioned even as three state ministers rushed to Sircilla to console the victims' families. The Congress party announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25,000 each to the kin of deceased besides promising Rs one lakh per family towards the education of children. The Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust too paid Rs 25,000 to each family while the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the CPI offered Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 per family respectively. Chiranjeevi said rather than tall claims, the government should come out with measures that provide a permanent solution to the weavers' plight. "The Rajasekhara Reddy government is under the illusion that there is no anti-incumbency. But it is a strong undercurrent, the shocks of which will be felt in the ensuing election," leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has warned.

All's not well in Praja Rajyam

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Barely one month into its existence, the Praja Rajyam Party of Telugu Mega Star Chiranjeevi seems to be bogged down by internal strife. "Fans" of the star are miffed at being "sidelined" by the politicians who are trying to hog the limelight in the company of Chiranjeevi. "We are getting a raw deal in the party," president of a district Chiranjeevi fans association lamented at the Praja Rajyam Party office here. Ironically, senior political leaders who jumped into the actor's outfit leaving their parent parties too aren't exactly happy with the state of affairs in Praja Rajyam. The coterie around Chiranjeevi is reportedly trying to "dictate terms" even to seasoned politicians who earlier held important positions in their parties as well as the government. Now, some of such leaders are apparently regretting their decision to join hands with Chiranjeevi. "It's a different kind of mess out here," one former minister said. "People here seem to have lot of airs about themselves. You don't find such a situation in any political party," he pointed out. Worse, enthusiastic people who are thronging the Praja Rajyam office in Jubilee Hills here to catch a glimpse of Chiranjeevi are literally being necked out by over-zealous security personnel. This has become a "routine" affair at the party office, the people complain. Even those accompanying party leaders are not being allowed entry into the Praja Rajyam office causing heartburn not only in the people but also the leaders. Two days ago, a woman leader of the party – who switched sides from the Telugu Desam – had faced an ignominious experience when one of Chiranjeevi's brothers came to the party office. The security personnel reportedly asked the leader, a former legislator, to "stand up" as "sir" was coming. As she refused to oblige, Chiranjeevi's brother allegedly pulled up the security personnel for having failed to "follow the system." Knowing this, the woman leader left the party office in a huff. Things at the party office apart, happenings in the districts are also leaving Chiranjeevi's fans seething. Chiranjeevi's youngest brother and actor Pavan Kalyan is reportedly encouraging certain groups in every district to run shows parallel to the former's fans. "This is leaving everyone confused," one district president of Chiranjeevi fans pointed out. Already, the actor's fans and the politicians are at loggerheads over managing the party affairs in the districts and the latest developments will only complicate matters further, it is feared. As usual, the Chiranjeevi camp seems to have not yet taken note of the goings on in the party. The simmering differences will come out in the open once Chiranjeevi begins his tour of the districts early October.

Politics of hate

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: They romanced him in reel life but have now been spitting venom on him in real life. 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. Vijaya Santhi paired with Chiranjeevi in as many as 18 films, the maximum any heroine has done with him, while Roja starred in only two films opposite the Telugu Mega Star. After having sailed with the Bharatiya Janata Party for many years, Vijaya Santhi floated her own political outfit – the Talli Telangana Party – a couple of years ago espousing the separate statehood cause. Roja is now heading Telugu Mahila, the women’s wing of Telugu Desam Party. Both have been taking a dig at Chiranjeevi ever since he jumped into active politics by launching his own party. “How can one expect a man, who has done nothing for the welfare of the film industry workers, to work for the welfare of the people at large,” wondered Roja, firing her first salvo at Chiranjeevi soon after he formally made his political arangetram. Vijaya Santhi, on the other hand, took a dig at the Mega Star for failing to come out with a clear stand on the Telangana issue. “He is trying to hoodwink people on Telangana,” she had said. After Chiranjeevi undertook his first mass contact programme by meeting handloom weavers in Sircilla, Roja unleashed a fresh round of attack on the former by dubbing the trip as a “mere vote-garnering exercise.” “Chiranjeevi had never aided the people in times of natural disasters like the tsunami or cyclones or incidents like bomb blasts. He’s now shedding crocodile tears over the plight of weavers,” Roja said, addressing a gathering of Telugu Yuvatha workers and IT professionals at the TDP office. Around the same time, Vijaya Santhi too was also making snide remarks against the Praja Rajyam Party chief saying “he is a rank junior to me in politics. Don’t compare me to him.” People of Telangana would not trust Chiranjeevi’s words as he lacked sincerity, she said and cautioned him not to take people of the region for granted. While verbal attacks from other political leaders are obvious, the Praja Rajyam Party leader is also having to contend with diatribe from his erstwhile colleagues in the film industry. Besides Roja and Vijaya Santhi, notable Chiranjeevi critics in the film industry are actor Rajasekhar and his actress-turned-director wife Jeevita and producer Tammareddi Bharadwaja. Bharadwaja produced two films with Chiranjeevi in his initial years as an actor while Rajasekhar did a bit role in only one Chiranjeevi film. Rajasekhar and Jeevita have recently joined the Congress party in the state. For now, the Praja Rajyam camp is maintaining a calculated silence on the criticism and will react only at an “appropriate time.”