Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: “A poor workman blames his tools,” it is said. Chiranjeevi has turned out to be the poor workman now.
In his 30-year-long filmy career, Chiranjeevi rose from the ranks to become the Megastar in the Telugu film industry and, in the process, won the hearts of crores of Telugu people.
But when he launched his Praja Rajyam Party and wanted to become the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, people have rejected him outrightly. Elections-2009 made this amply clear.
It was a bitter pill for him to swallow, though he has been desperately trying to put on a brave face saying: “Playing the game is important, not whether we won or lost.”
Now, he has gone a step further and gave a rather ludicrous reason for the PRP’s electoral drubbing.
The “rail engine” symbol – allotted by the Election Commission -- proved to be the PRP’s nemesis in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Chiranjeevi sought to reason.
“The rail engine symbol looked too tiny on the electronic voting machines that the voters could not recognize it. Symbols like loaf of bread, road-roller, bulldozer, tent and tractor looked large enough for the voters to easily identify. So they did not vote for PRP,” Chiranjeevi said.
Chiranjeevi’s claim is absolutely absurd. Indian voters, even if many of them are illiterate, are wise enough. Every political party and political leader will acknowledge that and never question the voters’ wisdom.
Now, if one is keen on voting for the PRP, he will certainly search for the party’s symbol carefully on either the electronic voting machine or the ballot paper and mark his choice. It is not at all a difficult task for the voter.
To say that the voters could not identify the rail engine on the EVM and hence voted on other symbols is utterly nonsensical and rubbish.
Chiranjeevi has made a fool of himself by making such claim. It grossly exposed how naïve he is.
Soon after he made the claim about the election symbol, I asked Chiranjeevi what were the lessons he learnt in the nine months of his political career, particularly after the PRP’s rout in the elections. “Everything has been a lesson for me. Every day teaches me a lesson. Even the loss in elections is a lesson in itself and I take it as my guru,” he replied. His assertion smacked of only arrogance and didn’t sound truthful.
Hopefully, the coming days would teach him better lessons and help him grow wiser, at least apparently.
Chiranjeevi also spoke of changing his party’s election symbol now that it becomes a “recognized” political party as per law. But can he change voters’ minds and hearts is the big question.
Sunday 24 May, 2009
Friday 22 May, 2009
CHIRANJEEVI'S FIX!
Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Saalako gruham naasaya, sarvam naasaya matukaha. This Sanskrit saying means a brother-in-law can ruin your house while a maternal uncle could ruin everything one has.
This aptly applies to Chiranjeevi, the Megastar of Telugu films. His life, as everyone knows, is in the hands of his brother-in-law Allu Aravind. So much so that Chiranjeevi can simply do nothing without Aravind’s influence.
Well, in the film industry nothing might have gone wrong as far as the duo was concerned. But politics is a different ball game altogether and none and nothing will be spared in public life if things are not worked out well.
Chiranjeevi may have understood by now the damage that has been done to his infant Praja Rajyam Party because of the evil influence of Aravind. As things stand in the PRP, Aravind seemed to have become Chiranjeevi’s nemesis. Both PRP insiders and outsiders will vouch for it.
What happened in the PRP’s Political Affairs Committee meeting, held days after the election results were out, gave clear indications that senior politicians who joined the PRP with lot of hope and ambition would not remain kind to Aravind or his excessive authority in the party. If insiders in PRP were to be believed, there was a near revolt against Aravind and every leader worth the name wanted his scalp.
Left badly battered in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the PRP is now seemingly getting embroiled in an internal strife which could only snowball.
Though Chiranjeevi is the hero, his Man Friday is turning out to be a villain. Aravind himself lost the Lok Sabha election from Anakapalle constituency despite his loud talk of winning even by “one vote.”
Every voter discussed only one thing about PRP after the election process in the state started: how the party tickets were “sold away” to candidates. And, everyone was sincerely convinced that the PRP was launched with the sole motive of making money. This talk had a telling impact on the PRP, which of course was never in the reckoning to win the elections. The talk over sale of tickets left the Megastar’s party decimated in the electoral battle.
Chiranjeevi, however, would not let a fly land on his brother-in-law. He took pains to dispel, what he called, a “deliberate, vicious, Goebbel’s campaign” against Aravind. “We made enough money in our profession (films). We need not earn money through dubious means like sale of party tickets,” he pointed out.
The PRP was established with the sole objective of “serving the people,” he tried to emphasise.
On listening to Chiranjeevi’s latest assertions, one couldn’t help but recall a Telugu saying … chetulu kaalaka aakulu pattukuni prayojanam ledu. (There is no use rubbing your palms with leaves after they are burnt). The PRP will have to wait for five more years for another verdict to be delivered on them.
Hyderabad: Saalako gruham naasaya, sarvam naasaya matukaha. This Sanskrit saying means a brother-in-law can ruin your house while a maternal uncle could ruin everything one has.
This aptly applies to Chiranjeevi, the Megastar of Telugu films. His life, as everyone knows, is in the hands of his brother-in-law Allu Aravind. So much so that Chiranjeevi can simply do nothing without Aravind’s influence.
Well, in the film industry nothing might have gone wrong as far as the duo was concerned. But politics is a different ball game altogether and none and nothing will be spared in public life if things are not worked out well.
Chiranjeevi may have understood by now the damage that has been done to his infant Praja Rajyam Party because of the evil influence of Aravind. As things stand in the PRP, Aravind seemed to have become Chiranjeevi’s nemesis. Both PRP insiders and outsiders will vouch for it.
What happened in the PRP’s Political Affairs Committee meeting, held days after the election results were out, gave clear indications that senior politicians who joined the PRP with lot of hope and ambition would not remain kind to Aravind or his excessive authority in the party. If insiders in PRP were to be believed, there was a near revolt against Aravind and every leader worth the name wanted his scalp.
Left badly battered in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the PRP is now seemingly getting embroiled in an internal strife which could only snowball.
Though Chiranjeevi is the hero, his Man Friday is turning out to be a villain. Aravind himself lost the Lok Sabha election from Anakapalle constituency despite his loud talk of winning even by “one vote.”
Every voter discussed only one thing about PRP after the election process in the state started: how the party tickets were “sold away” to candidates. And, everyone was sincerely convinced that the PRP was launched with the sole motive of making money. This talk had a telling impact on the PRP, which of course was never in the reckoning to win the elections. The talk over sale of tickets left the Megastar’s party decimated in the electoral battle.
Chiranjeevi, however, would not let a fly land on his brother-in-law. He took pains to dispel, what he called, a “deliberate, vicious, Goebbel’s campaign” against Aravind. “We made enough money in our profession (films). We need not earn money through dubious means like sale of party tickets,” he pointed out.
The PRP was established with the sole objective of “serving the people,” he tried to emphasise.
On listening to Chiranjeevi’s latest assertions, one couldn’t help but recall a Telugu saying … chetulu kaalaka aakulu pattukuni prayojanam ledu. (There is no use rubbing your palms with leaves after they are burnt). The PRP will have to wait for five more years for another verdict to be delivered on them.
Wednesday 20 May, 2009
Why the TDP fared badly in AP polls
Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: “Karnudi chaavuku kaaranalu anekam.” Thus goes a saying in Telugu which means the reasons for Karna’s death are one too many.
Likewise, there are many reasons for the Telugu Desam Party’s debacle in Elections-2009 in Andhra Pradesh.
First and foremost, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu obviously failed to regain confidence of the people. He promised heaven to the people but could not convince them that he would indeed deliver it, given his previous record wherein he withdrew “populist” schemes like rice at Rs 2-a-kg and liquor prohibition. His schemes like monthly cash transfer and free colour televisions have attracted people but have not converted into votes.
The TDP’s flip-flop stance on Telangana has also cost it dearly, what with people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions not taking kindly to the pro-separatist leaning.
It managed only 36 seats out of 123 in the coastal Andhra region and just 16 out of 52 in Rayalaseema. The pro-Telangana stance did not pay dividends in that region either with the TDP bagging just 38 out of 119 seats, despite allying with the separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti. The ruling Congress came up trumps in all the three regions, thereby comprehensively trouncing the principal opposition party.
The TDP also harped heavily on corruption issue with Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as the focal point. This factor was effectively negated by the individual benefit schemes that the Congress government has been implementing and did not pay dividends to the TDP in the end.
The nine-month-old Praja Rajyam Party has for sure dent the prospects of the TDP, mostly in the coastal Andhra region but a political minnow like the Lok Satta Party of former bureaucrat N Jayaprakash Narayan too has done the 27-year-old party in. The Lok Satta Party effect was largely felt in the urban areas where the TDP could have easily managed at least 20-25 seats more. Take for example the newly-created Vijayawada East Assembly segment. Here the PRP candidate won the seat by a meager margin of 190 votes but the Lok Satta Party candidate, a former TDP leader, managed to secure about 8,000 votes. This spoiled the chances of TDP nominee here.
Same was the case in many constituencies in Greater Hyderabad. The Secunderabad seat too would have fallen in the TDP’s kitty but for the Lok Satta Party which eat away over 9200 votes.
Union minister S Jaipal Reddy almost faced defeat in the newly-created Chevella Lok Sabha constituency at the hands of TDP’s Jitender Reddy. Here again the Lok Satta Party played spoilsport by splitting votes in Assembly segments like Serlingampally. Even in Parigi Assembly segment, an independent candidate polled over 30,000 for Lok Sabha, hitting the prospects of TDP.
The alliance with Left parties did not in any way benefit the TDP either, unlike the Congress which reaped a rich harvest in 2004.
TDP spokesperson and member of Legislative Council Nannapaneni Rajakumari admitted that Lok Satta had eaten into their votes at many places. “Besides, our alliance with TRS proved counter-productive. It is time for us to do a re-think on Telangana,” she observed.
All these issues will come up for elaborate discussion during the two-day annual conference of TDP beginning here on May 27. What lessons the TDP learns and what course it takes based on them will be eagerly watched.
Hyderabad: “Karnudi chaavuku kaaranalu anekam.” Thus goes a saying in Telugu which means the reasons for Karna’s death are one too many.
Likewise, there are many reasons for the Telugu Desam Party’s debacle in Elections-2009 in Andhra Pradesh.
First and foremost, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu obviously failed to regain confidence of the people. He promised heaven to the people but could not convince them that he would indeed deliver it, given his previous record wherein he withdrew “populist” schemes like rice at Rs 2-a-kg and liquor prohibition. His schemes like monthly cash transfer and free colour televisions have attracted people but have not converted into votes.
The TDP’s flip-flop stance on Telangana has also cost it dearly, what with people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions not taking kindly to the pro-separatist leaning.
It managed only 36 seats out of 123 in the coastal Andhra region and just 16 out of 52 in Rayalaseema. The pro-Telangana stance did not pay dividends in that region either with the TDP bagging just 38 out of 119 seats, despite allying with the separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti. The ruling Congress came up trumps in all the three regions, thereby comprehensively trouncing the principal opposition party.
The TDP also harped heavily on corruption issue with Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as the focal point. This factor was effectively negated by the individual benefit schemes that the Congress government has been implementing and did not pay dividends to the TDP in the end.
The nine-month-old Praja Rajyam Party has for sure dent the prospects of the TDP, mostly in the coastal Andhra region but a political minnow like the Lok Satta Party of former bureaucrat N Jayaprakash Narayan too has done the 27-year-old party in. The Lok Satta Party effect was largely felt in the urban areas where the TDP could have easily managed at least 20-25 seats more. Take for example the newly-created Vijayawada East Assembly segment. Here the PRP candidate won the seat by a meager margin of 190 votes but the Lok Satta Party candidate, a former TDP leader, managed to secure about 8,000 votes. This spoiled the chances of TDP nominee here.
Same was the case in many constituencies in Greater Hyderabad. The Secunderabad seat too would have fallen in the TDP’s kitty but for the Lok Satta Party which eat away over 9200 votes.
Union minister S Jaipal Reddy almost faced defeat in the newly-created Chevella Lok Sabha constituency at the hands of TDP’s Jitender Reddy. Here again the Lok Satta Party played spoilsport by splitting votes in Assembly segments like Serlingampally. Even in Parigi Assembly segment, an independent candidate polled over 30,000 for Lok Sabha, hitting the prospects of TDP.
The alliance with Left parties did not in any way benefit the TDP either, unlike the Congress which reaped a rich harvest in 2004.
TDP spokesperson and member of Legislative Council Nannapaneni Rajakumari admitted that Lok Satta had eaten into their votes at many places. “Besides, our alliance with TRS proved counter-productive. It is time for us to do a re-think on Telangana,” she observed.
All these issues will come up for elaborate discussion during the two-day annual conference of TDP beginning here on May 27. What lessons the TDP learns and what course it takes based on them will be eagerly watched.
Monday 18 May, 2009
The tale of political turncoats in AP
Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Political turncoats had a mixed luck in the Andhra Pradesh elections. While many of them lost the election, some proved successful.
Interestingly, almost all the losers were in the PRP now, having jumped over from other parties. Notable among the losers were former home minister T Devender Goud, former ministers K Kala Venkat Rao, Tammineni Seetaram, Kotagiri Vidyadhar Rao and Kottapalli Subbarayudu. All these were top-ranked leaders when they were in the Telugu Desam Party. In fact, Devender Goud was considered next only to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. He first quit the TDP to form his own Nava Telangana Party and subsequently merged it with the PRP. He lost both the Lok Sabha (Malkajgiri) and Assembly (Ibrahimpatnam) elections this time, his first defeat in his 25-year-old political career.
Former MP C Ramachandraiah, who too joined PRP by quitting TDP, lost the Lok Sabha election from Machilipatnam. Former Congress MLAs Vangaveeti Radhakrishnan and Buragadda Vedavyas, who joined the PRP just ahead of the elections, too failed to make it.
Former minister Mudragada Padmanabham, who switched over to the Congress from the TDP, proved unlucky as he was trounced by another political turncoat Vanga Geeta in Pithapuram. Geeta, a former member of Rajya Sabha, joined PRP from TDP and won the Assembly seat. Her colleague Bhuma Sobha Nagi Reddy emerged victorious in Allagadda Assembly constituency. A former chairperson of the State Road Transport Corporation, Sobha joined PRP from TDP along with her husband Bhuma Nagi Reddy. Nagi Reddy, however, lost the Lok Sabha election from Nandyal, a seat once represented by former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Another former TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao too emerged successful in Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.
Gutta Sukhender Reddy and Manda Jagannadham, who switched sides from the TDP to the Congress, emerged victorious from Nalgonda and Nagarkurnool (SC) Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. Former minister Ch Mutyam Reddy, who jumped over to the Congress from the TDP just on the eve of the elections, romped home in his native Dubbaka Assembly constituency.
Hyderabad: Political turncoats had a mixed luck in the Andhra Pradesh elections. While many of them lost the election, some proved successful.
Interestingly, almost all the losers were in the PRP now, having jumped over from other parties. Notable among the losers were former home minister T Devender Goud, former ministers K Kala Venkat Rao, Tammineni Seetaram, Kotagiri Vidyadhar Rao and Kottapalli Subbarayudu. All these were top-ranked leaders when they were in the Telugu Desam Party. In fact, Devender Goud was considered next only to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. He first quit the TDP to form his own Nava Telangana Party and subsequently merged it with the PRP. He lost both the Lok Sabha (Malkajgiri) and Assembly (Ibrahimpatnam) elections this time, his first defeat in his 25-year-old political career.
Former MP C Ramachandraiah, who too joined PRP by quitting TDP, lost the Lok Sabha election from Machilipatnam. Former Congress MLAs Vangaveeti Radhakrishnan and Buragadda Vedavyas, who joined the PRP just ahead of the elections, too failed to make it.
Former minister Mudragada Padmanabham, who switched over to the Congress from the TDP, proved unlucky as he was trounced by another political turncoat Vanga Geeta in Pithapuram. Geeta, a former member of Rajya Sabha, joined PRP from TDP and won the Assembly seat. Her colleague Bhuma Sobha Nagi Reddy emerged victorious in Allagadda Assembly constituency. A former chairperson of the State Road Transport Corporation, Sobha joined PRP from TDP along with her husband Bhuma Nagi Reddy. Nagi Reddy, however, lost the Lok Sabha election from Nandyal, a seat once represented by former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Another former TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao too emerged successful in Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.
Gutta Sukhender Reddy and Manda Jagannadham, who switched sides from the TDP to the Congress, emerged victorious from Nalgonda and Nagarkurnool (SC) Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. Former minister Ch Mutyam Reddy, who jumped over to the Congress from the TDP just on the eve of the elections, romped home in his native Dubbaka Assembly constituency.
AP Assembly: A mixed bag
Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The 13th Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly will be a mixed bag, more than half loaded with experience and the rest with freshness. There will be a dash of glamour with stars from the tinsel town Chiranjeevi and Jayasudha making it to the legislature for the first time. As many as 132 MLAs will be making their debut in the 294-member legislature and sharing the space with political heavyweights like Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu. For N Jayaprakash Narayan the portals of the Legislative Assembly are not new. For, as an Indian Administrative Service officer for more than two decades Narayan walked in those portals many a time but now he will be stepping in in a new avatar – as an elected representative. JP, as is he is famously called, has been elected to the Assembly for the first time from the newly-created Kukatpally constituency in Greater Hyderabad. Chiranjeevi, who floated the Praja Rajyam Party after ending his 30-year-long film career, failed to realize his dream of capturing power but he won the Tirupati Assembly seat and lost in Palakollu. He will be making entry into the Assembly for the first time. Yesteryear heroine Jayasudha, who continues to don character roles in Telugu films, too emerged successful in her maiden electoral battle from Secunderabad. Prominent among the first-time MLAs are K T Rama Rao, son of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, Kurasala Kannababu (PRP), a former journalist and Sheik Mastanvali (Congress), a former NSUI leader from Guntur. While the ruling Congress suffered a setback by losing many of its strongmen, the principal opposition TDP’s strength has improved with many of its heavyweights returning to the Assembly. Former Union minister S Venugopalachari, former state ministers Mandava Venkateswara Rao, Tummala Nageswara Rao, P Srinivas Reddy, B Gopalakrishna Reddy, P Ramulu, former MPs Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy and Ambati Brahmanaiah have made it to the Assembly once again this time.
Hyderabad: The 13th Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly will be a mixed bag, more than half loaded with experience and the rest with freshness. There will be a dash of glamour with stars from the tinsel town Chiranjeevi and Jayasudha making it to the legislature for the first time. As many as 132 MLAs will be making their debut in the 294-member legislature and sharing the space with political heavyweights like Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu. For N Jayaprakash Narayan the portals of the Legislative Assembly are not new. For, as an Indian Administrative Service officer for more than two decades Narayan walked in those portals many a time but now he will be stepping in in a new avatar – as an elected representative. JP, as is he is famously called, has been elected to the Assembly for the first time from the newly-created Kukatpally constituency in Greater Hyderabad. Chiranjeevi, who floated the Praja Rajyam Party after ending his 30-year-long film career, failed to realize his dream of capturing power but he won the Tirupati Assembly seat and lost in Palakollu. He will be making entry into the Assembly for the first time. Yesteryear heroine Jayasudha, who continues to don character roles in Telugu films, too emerged successful in her maiden electoral battle from Secunderabad. Prominent among the first-time MLAs are K T Rama Rao, son of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, Kurasala Kannababu (PRP), a former journalist and Sheik Mastanvali (Congress), a former NSUI leader from Guntur. While the ruling Congress suffered a setback by losing many of its strongmen, the principal opposition TDP’s strength has improved with many of its heavyweights returning to the Assembly. Former Union minister S Venugopalachari, former state ministers Mandava Venkateswara Rao, Tummala Nageswara Rao, P Srinivas Reddy, B Gopalakrishna Reddy, P Ramulu, former MPs Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy and Ambati Brahmanaiah have made it to the Assembly once again this time.
Sunday 17 May, 2009
Chiranjeevi's flop show in politics
Desaraju Surya
He faced many defeats in his three-decade old career in the film industry but he always bounced back to firm up his position on the top.
Politics was a totally different script for him and he was a “reluctant politician” who was allegedly “forced” into the hotbed of politics in politically-conscious Andhra Pradesh.
He – at least those around him – thought he could probably do an NTR once again on AP’s political scene, much like he did on the silver screen.
Alas, NTR was a legend who has acquired a demi-God’s image among the masses in the state but Chiranjeevi essentially remained just a star – a dancing sensation.
Thus, they appeared to have not taken him so seriously when he wanted to become the “king” to usher in a “change.”
It was the worst electoral drubbing that Chiranjeevi would have ever imagined, having won the hearts of crores of people in many years.
It took over 15 years for 53-year-old Chiranjeevi to take a political plunge, for, there had been anticipation of his political foray since 1993 when he was at the pinnacle of glory in the film industry delivering one mighty hit after the other. He, however, preferred the celluloid greasepaint to the political sleaze and went on to don a variety of roles in a total of 148 films in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. Incidentally, he donned the role of a politician in only one film – Mutha Mestri (labour leader) – way back in 1993, when the first call for his political debut was heard. Year 2006 saw Chiranjeevi bask in additional glory as the Government of
In the end, however, his political act ended up as a flop show.
The Congress' USP in AP
Desaraju Surya
They have spelt success for the Congress and helped it retain power.
“The four crore beneficiaries of our individual benefit schemes are our ‘star’ campaigners,” Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy used to say constantly while referring to the film stars who campaigned for other parties.
Indeed, the beneficiaries have not belied either Rajasekhara Reddy’s or Congress’ hopes and gave their thumbs up.
Though the Telangana factor threatened to wreck the Congress boat, the individual benefit schemes seemed to have turned the tide.
Many Congress heavyweights like PCC president D Srinivas, Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy and several ministers may lost the election but Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had the last laugh with the Congress comfortably crossing the magic mark of 148 seats. The Congress may ultimately end up with 155 seats out of 294.
The Rajasekhara Reddy government focused primarily on the ambitious Jalayagnam programme (irrigation projects) in the first two years from 2004 but slowly it turned its attention to schemes that benefited individuals – the target group of customary voters.
Thus, every household derived not just one but many benefits as per the head count. Be it a white ration card that ensured supply of rice at Rs 2-a-kg, Arogya Sri health insurance that gave a Rs 2 lakh cover for treatment of major ailments, permanent housing, loans to women self-help group members at 25-paise interest, reimbursement of fee for higher and professional education… the schemes covered and benefited one and all.
Besides, pensions for various sections like old-aged, physically-challenged and artisans too have left those sections content.
Though the Telugu Desam Party promised to introduce a Cash-Transfer-Scheme, under which each eligible family was promised sums ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 a month, people apparently did not take it seriously.
“When we are already getting many benefits, why should we bother about something that we are not sure about,” was the common refrain of people all through.
In the ultimate analysis, people voted for continuity rather than ambiguity and this became Congress’ USP.
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