Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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.

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