Praja Rajyam decided to use the services of film heroes in its camp

BY J.R.PRASAD

Hyderabad, Oct. 8: The actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi is embarking on his maiden political statewide tour on Thursday from Srikakulam district in order to boost the prospects of his party. The Praja Rajyam leaders are pinning their hopes on this tour, which is beginning from north coastal Andhra region where Chiranjeevi is believed to have influence among the people.

After offering prayers at Suryanarayana Swamy temple in Arasavelli near Itchapuram, the Praja Rajyam chief will launch his yatra on Vijayadasami day. The party has named this tour the Praja Ankita Yatra. On Thursday, the PR chief will fly to Visakhapatnam from Hyderabad and go to Arasavelli and hit the road for a nine-day tour of north coastal Andhra.

The first leg of his yatra will cover Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts. Later, the political caravan will go through Telangana and Rayalaseema. Apart from the Praja Rajyam leaders, all the Opposition parties in the state are also eager to see the response that Chiranjeevi will get during the tour.

The Telugu Desam is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the yatra as some more leaders from the party in coastal Andhra are likely to shift their loyalties to Chiranjeevi based on the yatra. The Left parties, especially the CPI(M) is keenly watching Chiranjeevi’s statewide tour.

The party is yet to decide on aligning with the Telugu Desam or the Praja Rajyam based on Chiranjeevi’s success. Meanwhile, stung by the poor response to the party’s membership drive, the Praja Rajyam seems to have decided to use the services of film heroes in its camp. Even though the party launched its first ever membership drive on October 2 amid much fanfare, it did not get a good response.

Apart from the membership drive, the PR leaders also called upon its cadre across the state to celebrate the flag festival from October 2 to 9 by unfurling party flags in the state. However, party flags were not hoisted at many places due to lack of enthusiasm to Chiranjeevi’s call.

The flag festival in many districts across the state was marred by fights among Chiranjeevi’s fans and political leaders in the party. Peeved by all these developments, the PR leaders have reportedly summoned Pawan Kalyan to tour the state and lend momentum to the membership drive. The PR leaders are anxious about the security of Chiranjeevi during the tour.