Chiranjeevi's anguish

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: With questions being raised over the party’s survival less than a week ahead of its first anniversary, Praja Rajyam chief K Chiranjeevi has asserted that no force, except the people, could eliminate his outfit. Expressing serious anguish over reports in a section of the vernacular media that the PRP might soon be merged with the ruling Congress party, Chiranjeevi said such “fabricated stories” were part of a “deep-rooted conspiracy” by two newspapers on behalf of a political party. The PRP chief maintained that staying neutral was his political agenda. “How can I be close to either the Congress or the TDP and how many times should I prove my neutrality,” Chiranjeevi wondered. “The party (Telugu Desam) sees us (PRP) as an obstacle in its path to power. Hence this baseless and false campaign against us,” Chiranjeevi alleged. It was neither for the TDP nor the two newspapers to decide whether or not the PRP should exist, Chiranjeevi pointed out, adding that the people were the ultimate judges in this regard. “I am proud that 70 lakh voters of the state have solidly backed us in the recent elections. It is not even hundred days since the verdict has been delivered but efforts are on in full swing to bury the PRP,” Chiranjeevi lamented. The actor-turned-politician reiterated that he was into politics with a plain heart and a single-point agenda of serving the people. Asked how he planned to counter the political conspiracy, Chiranjeevi said: “By taking up people’s cause and fighting for them.”

A day earlier, Chiranjeevi was taken aback by a “sustained campaign” about the possible desertion of his party MLAs to other camps, notably the ruling Congress. But he asserted that all the 18 legislators were “solidly behind me.” “I am perplexed why the media is going to town daily with reports that PRP MLAs are likely to jump into other parties. The media seems to be specifically targeting MLAs from one district per day. None of the reports is true and all the MLAs are very much with me,” Chiranjeevi said. He quipped that the vernacular newspapers might well carry a story saying he too would be switching over to some other party one day. The PRP was being deliberately targeted by the media with the only intention of weakening it, he felt. “But people of the state are solidly behind me. History will be re-written if I undertake a complete tour of the state. I will take PRP to the number one position in the next four and a half years,” Chiranjeevi vowed. Maintaining that he did not float the Praja Rajyam Party with any political ambitions or vested interests, Chiranjeevi stressed that serving the people was his only agenda.