Blockbuster Opening

SANJANA Tirupathi,
Andhra Pradesh

CHANTS OF Jai Chiranjeeva, Jai Jai Chiranjeeva reverberated from the Avilala Tank ground in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh, as over six lakh fans of Telugu film star Chiranjeevi waited for him to announce the name of his new political party and its agenda. Frenzied celebrations erupted as soon as the star said Praja Rajyam — a party that would work to establish the rule of the people.

The second NTR? An ecstatic Chiranjeevi at his party’s launch in Tirupathi

The launch, held to coincide with Mother Teresa’s birthday, witnessed a massive turnout. The organisers had pressed 1,500 buses, 18 special trains and thousands of private vehicles into service to transport fans from across the state. On August 26, they were seen struggling to maintain a semblance of order as people battled for space and water. The police lathicharge left 35 people injured. The worst-affected were the women and the physically handicapped, who had been specifically mobilised to attend the launch. Despite repeated pleas by the organisers to maintain discipline, the crowd was unruly — chairs and chappals were flung in the air as they expressed their disapproval of the police attempts to maintain the barricades separating different enclosures. The melee continued even after the megastar took the stage.

In a two-hour long speech, Chiranjeevi relied heavily on practiced rhetoric to promise that he would work relentlessly for the welfare of the backward communities, workers, farmers and women. Amongst the major issues confronting the state, Chiranjeevi spoke of the agricultural crisis that has led to wide-scale suicides amongst farmers. He added that Naxalism was an issue that should be seen as a social one, since there were deep-rooted problems that had gone unaddressed. But his most significant engagement was on Telangana — his party would recognise the people’s right to self-respect since it stemmed from the discrimination they faced. There was a need to “protect their self-respect and their decision if they concluded that parting between brothers was unavoidable.”

Positioning himself as one who was familiar with the problems of the people, Chiranjeevi spoke about his own ordinary childhood, when, as the son of a police constable, the family had to drink thin gruel to survive hard times. “Even after I became an actor, I continued to be in touch with your problems – I have acted as a cobbler, as a poor man and as an IAS officer trying to understand the problems of the tribals,” he declaimed. References to his three-decade long hold on the Telugu film industry (the actor first shot into fame in 1977 with Manavoori Pandavulu) were not limited to these remarks. That there was a delicate balancing act being made, between Chiranjeevi the actor and Chiranjeevi the people’s man, was evident right from the morning of the rally.

But there was more evidence of the balancing acts that Chiranjeevi hoped to manage through Praja Rajyam. The party flag, steeped in symbolism, was one such. A blazing sun set against white and green bands — Chiranjeevi explained that this was an attempt to use the energy of the sun to bring about a social revolution through clean governance at the top and prosperity to the farmer community. A close aide attributed further symbolism to the flag: “Chiranjeevi is very concerned about the religious divides in society — so this flag was his attempt to bring together all the three major religions, since Christanisty is represented by white, Islam by green and Hinduism by red. We are not going to play up to any particular community.”

Balancing acts aside, Chiranjeevi does have a battle on his hands if he makes any attempt to override the delicate caste equations in Andhra Pradesh — a battle that is bound to be foregrounded in the assembly elections expected in May 2009. The actor belongs to the Kapu community, which comprises around 25 percent of the total population in the state — the other dominant communities include the Kammas and the Naidus.

The positioning of Chiranjeevi as a Kapu community leader has already begun, despite the actor’s own categoric statement that he hopes to transcend caste barriers. The ruling Congress Government is expected to announce the inclusion of Kapus in the backward communities list — something that the community has been lobbying fervently for over the years. Such an inclusion into the backward communities list will ensure that the benefits of reservation will be extended to the community. The task of a socio-economic survey to provide the basis for the inclusion had been assigned to the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Economics — a final announcement is expected in December. Besides this, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy has reportedly increased the budgetary allocation for the welfare of Kapu students from Rs.1.5 crore in 2004 to Rs 25 crore this year. Whether these announcements were triggered by speculation about Chiranjeevi’s foray into politics is a question that cannot be answered.

BESIDES THE Congress, the other major political force in the state, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has dismissed any chances of a negative impact on the party’s prospects in the 2009 assembly elections. TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly discussed the actor’s lack of established credibility in the political field as one reason for the TDP not to feel any threat from him. When asked about the possible exodus of leaders to join Chiranjeevi, Naidu said that the TDP was “growing stronger and stronger” and that one or two leaders leaving the party was not going to affect it drastically. Even before the formal launch of Praja Rajyam, several leaders, including senior Congress MP Harirama Jogaiah, former TDP MPs C Ramachandraiah, V Geetha and B Nagi Reddy and ex-MLA S Venkat Reddy, announced their decision to quit their respective parties. Chiranjeevi also got an announcement of support from Katti Padma Rao, a prominent dalit leader in the state. The formal launch of the party is bound to lead to hectic discussions between leaders in different political parties.

Even if there are no defections to the Chiranjeevi camp, it is unlikely that the Congress and the TDP will remain unaffected. For Chiranjeevi, the challenge is not merely to see if he can translate his on-screen success to winning elections. There is no doubt about the actor winning whichever seat he chooses to contest from. The challenge would be to ensure success for the rest of the Praja Rajyam leaders — something that cannot be assured by a sixlakh turnout at the party launch. At the launch, Chiranjeevi stood alone on the stage as he outlined his party’s agenda. It was clearly a one man show in all aspects — an image that he will need to compound with the support of other leaders, to make a significant dent in the assembly and parliamentary elections. •

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