Ambitious Chiranjeevi

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: In the public domain, Chiranjeevi had so far been beating around the bush over his political ambitions. Within the four walls and amidst his close associates, Chiranjeevi, however, appears to be clearly stating that he has indeed marked the Chief Minister's position as his target.Take a look at the 9.20 minute video footage of his interaction with a group of youngsters – which is now available on the Internet – and you get a peep into his mind. "I am into politics not for the sake of securing power or position but only to serve the people. I am their servant," Chiranjeevi had been proclaiming ever since he declared his intention to quit the tinsel town and jump onto the political bandwagon.

Now, the latest video footage, which is suspectedly the product of a "sting operation," revealed at least a part of the "neo-politician" Chiranjeevi's mind. "People say I joined politics with some vested interest. I may say no but everybody has some 'hope' inside. But I am unable to guage what that hope is," Chiranjeevi noted. At that point, his audience pitches in with the suggestion that "becoming the Chief Minister" was his "hope." "Don't simply brush this thing aside when people say Chiranjeevi wants to become the CM. Just cut the topic," the actor-turned-politician said. Of course, he goes on say that the well-being of the society at large could be his "hope." Sitting in the conference room at his Praja Rajyam Party office in Hyderabad, flanked by bureaucrat-turned-politician T Chandrasekhar, Chiranjeevi was in a jolly mood all through as he apparently spoke his heart out to a group of people. Who his audience were was, however, not clear. One version was that they could be Information Technology professionals (going by what one of them spoke about the forum called Do IT) while another version was that they were a group of co-ordinators appointed by Praja Rajyam to ensure co-ordination between Chiranjeevi fans and party workers in each district. All through the meeting, Chiranjeevi referred to them just as "youngsters" and dropped no hint about their antecedents. Chiranjeevi's message, however, was clear: "I have no belief in the senior politicians who joined my party." He was categorical in asking the "youngsters" to keep a tab on the senior politicians in every district and report back to the party headquarters if anything went wrong in any district. "In a way you have to be the spies. Agents, rather," the Praja Rajyam chief told them. He, however, cautioned the youngsters to ensure that nobody smelt anything suspicious about their (spying) acts. Chiranjeevi assured the youth joining the Praja Rajyam Party that he was not the kind to "use, exploit and dump" them and their "sacrifices" would not go waste.