Chiranjeevi seeks common symbol for Praja Rajyam

New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS) South Indian film star-turned-politician Chiranjeevi Monday ruled out an alliance between his newly formed political outfit Praja Rajyam and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in his home state Andhra Pradesh for the coming Lok Sabha elections.”We are ready to form an alliance with all secular parties,” Chiranjeevi told reporters after his meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami here.

“Praja Rajyam is a secular party while the BJP is not and there could not be any truck with it,” he said.

He also said a final decision on the poll alliance was yet to be taken.

The South Indian matinee idol said he requested the Election Commission to allot a symbol to his party though, according to the rules, the poll panel does not provide a common symbol to the candidates of a new party contesting the polls for the first time.

Without a common symbol, each candidate will have to contest on his/her own separate symbol.

“A single symbol is very important for the party’s identity and we have discussed the matter with Gopalaswami,” Chiranjeevi said.

He cited the instances of other parties like the Telugu Desam Party and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, which were granted symbols soon after they were launched.[source:chiru.in]