Chiranjeevi says prajarajyam Doors Open for Tie-Ups

Prajarajyam president Chiranjeevi on Sunday announced his party’s decision to keep the doors open for alliances with other parties for the next Assembly elections.

Admitting that the party was in touch with Telangana Rashtra Samiti, he, however, replied in the negative when asked whether the prajarajyam leadership received any signals from the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership. “We are in touch with several parties, but nothing concrete has come out as yet,” he said.

Asked whether he was confident of repeating TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao’s feat of 1983, he said he would not like to be “overconfident”.

Mr. Chiranjeevi was speaking to reporters after announcing the nomination of his brother and film actor Pavan Kalyan as chief of Yuva Rajyam, the party’s youth wing. A good number of fans, who gathered at the party office here at Jubilee Hills gate-crashed into the venue and in the process, broke a glass door at the entrance.

Mr. Chiranjeevi defended his decision to appoint his close relatives to key party posts claiming his brother-in-law Allu Arvind, who wields a considerable influence over the party, was more a friend to him than a relative while his brothers Nagendra Babu and Pavan Kalyan had their own public image.

“It is not appropriate to keep them in the backseat when they have capability and public image. They should not be denied opportunity just because they happen to be my relatives”, he averred.

Mr. Pavan Kalyan said he would discharge the responsibilities entrusted to him by his actor-turned-politician brother.

Asserting that he would not contest in the elections and continue acting, he termed as “hypothetical” a query asking whether he would not contest even if Mr. Chiranjeevi wants him to do so.