Movie stars and their political plays

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The trend of film star jumping into politics in Andhra Pradesh has not started with the legendary N T Rama Rao. Much before Rama Rao launched the Telugu Desam Party in 1982, his contemporary and childhood classmate Kongara Jaggaiah had already served as a member of Lok Sabha from Ongole. N T Rama Rao, however, was the real trend-setter. With his advent into politics, many movie artists, directors and producers too started taking the political plunge.Hero Krishna was elected to the Lok Sabha once on a Congress ticket but he subsequently did not stay active in politics. Another hero Krishnam Raju first joined the Congress and later shifted to the BJP and was elected twice to the Lok Sabha. He served as a minister of state under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Just two days ago, he quit the BJP and joined the Praja Rajyam Party floated by Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi.In fact, Chiranjeevi was the only hero with a massive fan following to launch a political party after NTR.Heroine and national award winner ‘Urvasi’ Sarada was elected to the Lok Sabha on behalf of the TDP. Very recently she quit the party and joined the Congress.Noted director Dasari Narayana Rao was elected to Rajya Sabha twice on Congress ticket and till recently served as a minister of state in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet. Another director K Raghavendra Rao is an active member of the TDP but he always remains behind the scenes. Likewise, actor and producer M Murali Mohan too remains behind the scenes in the TDP and has never contested an election. His contemporary and another actor-producer M Mohan Babu was elected to Rajya Sabha during NTR’s time but subsequently fell apart with Chandrababu Naidu and distanced himself from active politics. Now, he is virtually supporting the Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.Character actor Kaikala Satyanarayana too was elected to Lok Sabha on behalf of the TDP but he has now quit the party. Another character actor late Ravu Gopala Rao too was active in the TDP given his association with NTR.NTR’s son Nandamuri Balakrishna, one of the top heroes in Telugu, used to campaign for the TDP during his father’s time but stayed away from politics for over a decade when his brother-in-law Chandrababu Naidu was at the helm of affairs. Only in late 2008 did Balakrishna start taking a serious role in TDP affairs what with Chiranjeevi launching his own party. Balakrishna, along with his nephew and upcoming film star NTR (Junior), is one of the star campaigners for the TDP in this election.Chiranjeevi apart, the Praja Rajyam Party is star-studded with his actor brothers Nagendra Babu and Pavan Kalyan being key leaders in the eight-month-old party. Chiranjeevi’s brother-in-law is a noted film producer and is the key man who runs the PRP affairs.A couple of heroes like Rajendra Prasad and Suman too actively campaigned for the TDP.
Character actors Kota Srinivasa Rao and Babu Mohan were elected to the state Assembly on BJP and TDP tickets respectively and the latter even served as a minister in Chandrababu’s Cabinet. They are still active in politics.Heroine-turned-character actor Jayasudha joined the Congress a few months ago and is now contesting the Assembly election for the first time from Secunderabad.Hero-heroine couple Rajasekhar-Jeevitha too has joined the Congress but is not in the fray.Many character artistes and producers used to sail with the TDP during and after NTR’s time but have virtually become inactive now.Yesteryear heroes Bhanuchander and Sudhakar joined the Congress couple of days ago but they will have little role to play.Every time during elections, some film stars, directors and producers join one party or the other with the hope of grabbing a ticket but many simple fizzle out.

REBEL star joins hands with MEGA star

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Former Union minister U V Krishnam Raju quit the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined the Praja Rajyam Party here today, thus bringing the 10-day long suspense over his political moves to an end.
Known as the “Rebel star” of Telugu films, Krishnam Raju was elected from the Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh twice in 1998 and 1999 and served as a minister of state for external affairs and also defence in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He lost the 2004 election from the same constituency.
He acted in more than 180 films and also produced 10 of them. He joined the Congress and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election in 1991 from Narsapuram and subsequently joined the BJP.
It is learnt that the PRP will now field him from Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency against Union minister of state Daggubati Purandareswari of the Congress.
Krishnam Raju acted along the legendary N T Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishna, Sobhan Babu and other top heroes in Telugu films.
He hails from Mogalturu village in West Godavari district where the Praja Rajyam Party chief and Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi was also born. Krishnam Raju was an established hero by the time Chiranjeevi joined the film industry and the latter played cameo roles in three of Krishnam Raju’s movies.
“I cannot do anything for the state by staying in the BJP. In fact, at one point I wanted to bid goodbye to politics. But, I have joined the PRP as it is growing stronger by the day,” Krishnam Raju told newsmen after formally joining the party in the presence of Chiranjeevi today evening.
Raju said he would explain later the reasons for his quitting the BJP. “Chiranjeevi has grown into a good leader in a very short span. We shall strive to do good work for the state,” he added.
Welcoming Krishnam Raju into the party, Chiranjeevi remarked that more glamour was added to the PRP now. “Many of my erstwhile colleagues from the film industry are joining me. It’s a happy sign. Krishnam Raju will be given a befitting position in the PRP,” Chiranjeevi said.

Mind-boggling welfare measures

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Tax-payers in Andhra Pradesh have every reason to feel their hearts burn. For, it’s their money that’s going to be virtually squandered in the coming months only to satiate the hunger for power of the political leaders.
By conservative estimates, a mind-boggling Rs 30,000 crore – a bare minimum -- will be required to fulfill the promises being made by one party after the other on the eve of crucial general elections due in April. All this in the name of "welfare!"
The Cash Transfer Scheme that the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party promised to introduce, if elected to power, alone would require about Rs 21,600 crore per year. Yet another populist scheme of the TDP, free colour television scheme for families below poverty line (estimated to be around one crore), may eat away another Rs 5000 crore. These two promises are just the tip of the iceberg and the TDP has much more to deliver given the countless assurances that its president N Chandrababu Naidu gave to virtually every section of the society. Such assurances include free housing to the poor, unemployment benefit of Rs 1000 per month to each unemployed youth, waiver of loans to farmers, weavers and everyone else. All these require a minimum of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore.
But the TDP is confident that it can fulfill its promises. “A lot of wealth has been created in the recent years, thanks to the economic reforms. Also, the state’s revenues have touched Rs 70,000 crore and are growing by 21 per cent every year. So, money should not be a problem in keeping our promises,” Chandrababu Naidu asserts.
Not to be outdone, the seven-month-old Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi too has come out with a slew of “welfare” schemes that range from free power to all SC, ST, BC colonies, power at 50 per cent subsidy to all rural households, a Rs 1.5 lakh ‘gift’ scheme for girls on attaining the age of 18 years, Rs 1000 a month ‘gratuity’ for unemployed youth, a pension-cum-insurance scheme for farmers, Rs 25,000 ex-gratia each to widows aged between 18 and 40 years and Rs 20,000 each to those between 41 and 65 years.
All these are in addition to the free health care and free education schemes that will have to be extended to more than 90 per cent of the state’s population. The unemployment benefit scheme alone could leave the exchequer dry by Rs 300 crore a month, given the 30 lakh unemployed youth in the state.
“There are various taxes through which we get good revenues. We have worked out the details and will present them in our Budget,” the Praja Rajyam Party manifesto committee chairman and former Union minister P Shiv Shanker said. Though the party estimated the overall financial requirement to implement these promises, he was not ready to reveal the figure at this stage.
State finance minister K Rosaiah was quick to trash these promises saying they were “impossible” to implement. “The TDP’s Cash Transfer Scheme and the free colour TVs scheme are simply not possible given the financial condition of the state,” Rosaiah observed.
It’s an irony that such words came out from the mouth of Rosaiah, who had been emptying the state coffers for implementing the numerous populist programmes that the incumbent Y S Rajasekhara Reddy regime had initiated over the past three years. The free power to the agriculture sector alone is gobbling up Rs 5000 crore every year while schemes like Arogya Sri health insurance, fee re-imbursement for SC, ST, BC, minority and economically backward class students, rice at Rs 2-a-kg, supply of certain grocery items for Rs 110 a pack, housing for poor, co-contributory pension scheme for women and several others are costing thousands of crores of rupees. The overall “subsidy” bill of the state currently is estimated to be over Rs 25,000 crore.
Incidentally, the ruling Congress has not yet released its manifesto for the coming elections and once that is out, many more new schemes could well add to the already-lengthy list.
The Congress has earned a dubious distinction for Andhra Pradesh by creating the “ridiculously largest” number of “below poverty line” families in the state. As per the government’s claims, more than two crore families – or over 90 per cent of the state population -- hold a white ration card, which denotes the BPL status.
Bureaucrat-turned-politician N Jayaprakash Narayan, who heads the Lok Satta Party, dubbed the TDP’s free colour TV promise a “corrupt electoral practice.” “Where in the Constitution of India has such a scheme been permitted,” he questioned angrily. He even denounced the Cash Transfer Scheme. Jayaprakash was also critical of Praja Rajyam Party’s land distribution promise questioning “would they produce land from any factory for distribution?”

Battle-fit: Parties gear up for polls in Andhra Pradesh

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Elections-2009 will be by far the hottest in the history of Andhra Pradesh. For the first time, the state will witness a triangular contest between the ruling Congress, the “Grand Alliance” (of Telugu Desam Party-Telangana Rashtra Samiti-Communist Party of India (Marxist)-Communist Party of India) and the Praja Rajyam Party floated by Telugu Mega Star Chiranjeevi.
On paper, however, it will be a “multi-cornered” contest with other players like Bharatiya Janata Party and Lok Satta Party of bureaucrat-turned-politician N Jayaprakash Narayan in the fray.
But the impact of these two outfits will be not significant by any count and as such the fight will essentially be between Congress, Grand Alliance and Praja Rajyam Party.
The Congress is ready to fight the elections on the “development-welfare” plank while the Grand Alliance have a range of issues – ranging from corruption to Telangana – to attack the ruling party with. Chiranjeevi wants to do an “Obama” in Andhra Pradesh and is harping on the “change” mantra.
Andhra Pradesh could well decide who would form the next government in New Delhi. For the Congress, the stakes are too heavy. An impressive performance – an encore of 2004 – by the Congress here will put it in the driver’s seat even in New Delhi. By sending as many as 33 members to the Lok Sabha in 2004, Andhra Pradesh electorate enabled the Congress party to form a government at the Centre in the company of other political outfits.
But the Grand Alliance, which is aiming at forming the so-called “Third Alternative” government at the Centre, is bent on spoiling the chances of the ruling party by exposing the Congress primarily on the corruption issue apart from a host of other “failures.”
Equally bent is the PRP to mar the prospects of not only the Congress but also the Grand Alliance. On the face of it, the PRP may well give a tough fight to both the Congress and the Grand Alliance by splitting their votes in most pockets in the state but its aspirations may actually come a cropper if it fails to secure a common symbol for all its candidates. As things stand, the infant party – that solely banks on the charisma of Mega Star Chiranjeevi – is unlikely to get a common symbol and will have to make do with multiple symbols for its candidates. The most significant aspect of Elections-2009 will be the total isolation of the ruling Congress in the state. In 2004, the Left parties had aligned with the Congress while Telangana Rashtra Samiti was also part of the alliance that ousted N Chandrababu Naidu from power. TDP had only the Bharatiya Janata Party for company in 2004 but the combination could not outwit the Congress-Left-TRS combine.
The 2004 poll outcome makes for an interesting study. The Congress, which polled 38.56 per cent of the total valid votes, bagged 185 seats in the 294-member state Assembly while the TDP with a 37.59 per cent vote share could manage only 47 seats. The CPI got 1.53 per cent votes (six seats), CPM 1.84 per cent (nine seats) and the TRS 6.68 per cent (26 seats) while the BJP secured 2.63 per cent and just two seats. The Congress won 33 seats, TDP four, TRS two (down from five after the split and subsequent bye-elections) while CPI, CPM and MIM bagged one Lok Sabha seat each.
Elections-2009 will, however, be entirely different. The CPM, CPI and TRS have now crossed over to the TDP with the sole objective of dislodging the “corrupt” Congress. The BJP has none for company this time and is striving to rediscover itself in the state.
Here comes the PRP into play which could mar the Grand Alliance’s prospects as well as those of the ruling Congress. How much will the vote split be is hard to predict but at least in the coastal Andhra region and to some extent in Rayalaseema, Chiranjeevi's party could cast its spell. The PRP's impact is expected to be the maximum in East Godavari and West Godavari districts, which hitherto used to be the TDP's citadels. In north coastal Andhra too -- comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts -- Chiranjeevi's party is likely to eat into the traditional TDP votes much to the comfort of the Congress. In the final analysis, this could prove to be the most decisive factor in determining who comes to power. Of course, the outcome in Telangana will also be crucial as the region has as many as 117 seats.
The Congress, however, is putting up a brave front saying no combination or force could prevent it from retaining power. "It will be a positive vote for the government, which is quite unprecedented. The slew of welfare measures, apart from the major development works including the construction of irrigation projects, will stand us in good stead," Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy boasts.
May 16 will be the Judgment Day for all of them.

Japan to collaborate with IIT-Hyderabad

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The Government of Japan has come forward to participate in the formation of Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad through academic, technical and financial collaboration. “This Indo-Japan collaboration will be one of the unique strengths of IIT-H. The institute will also leverage the local presence of a wide-range of research and development laboratories and companies, both government and private, in the region. In addition, we are exploring the potential of substantial technical collaboration and support from Japan,” acting director of IIT-H M S Ananth has said. “This will give IIT-H a unique DNA,” he observed. Infrastructure for the II T-H would be built on a sprawling 523-acre site at Kandi village abutting the National Highway-9 in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs 600 crore over the next ten years. The IIT-H is about 50-km from Hyderabad city. A master plan for the permanent campus is currently under preparation, according to Ananth, who is also the director of IIT-Madras. Satyam Computers former chairman B Ramalinga Raju launched the academic programme for the first batch of 111 IIT-H students on August 19, 2008 at the temporary campus on the Ordnance Factory premises. “Construction of buildings and other infrastructure will begin after July after the master plan is finalized. The institute will be developed in phases over the next ten years with the first set of buildings expected to be completed in the next two years,” Ananth said. The IIT-H has currently been running the academic programmes in three streams – electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science and engineering. The second batch of students joining in the 2009-10 academic year too would be housed in the temporary campus, Ananth added. “Pushing Frontiers” is the tagline of IIT-H. "It is the vision of the institute that, as it endeavours to push the frontiers in engineering research and teaching, it will set new standards in engineering practice in India and contribute actively to the country’s growth," the director noted.