Political loneliness of Megastar Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad: February 6, 2011, is a day that most functionaries of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) would prefer to forget. It was on this day that actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi announced in the national capital the PRP's merger with the Congress: it was like jumping in at the deep without knowing how to swim.

As disoriented PRP leaders thrashed about, AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad visited Chiranjeevi in Hyderabad on July 1 and took the metaphor a bit further. 'The Congress is like the Indian Ocean,' he said. 'You have jumped into it. You have to stay afloat and swim to the shore, crossing all the hurdles that come your way. You will benefit someday.' Such helpful words left the PRP men stunned.

If they had cared to notice them, niceties surrounding Chiranjeevi's sojourns in the national capital and his confabulations with Congress biggies had not been propitious. Barring a brief exchange of pleasantries before the merger announcement, Chiranjeevi was not even given a photo-op with the woman who runs the Congress. Six months since then, Chiranjeevi has been granted the benefit of formally joining the Congress in the presence of Prince Rahul Gandhi on August 20. Other PRP legislators will be administered the rites of admission at Gandhi Bhavan, the mangy party headquarters in Hyderabad.

For a man who dreamt of becoming the chief minister and for the others who dreamt of hanging on to his coat tails as he flew, it has been a long and hard journey. After a flop show at the hustings with just 18, including Chiranjeevi, getting elected and his inability to lead the small team at a time when the state turned tumultuous in the wake of YSR's death, the merger with Congress offered a ray of hope in more ways than one: Maybe a Cabinet berth for Chiru in Delhi, ditto for some PRP legislators at the state level, apart from nominations to various government bodies. But nothing has materialised so far.

A senior Congress leader recalls how he had advised Chiranjeevi against joining the party; he would only be one among many and would have to wait in the queue for his turn. Rued a PRP legislator: 'We are clueless. Government officials are not listening to us. We are not being offered Cabinet berths or even other posts citing the separate Telangana movement. We don't know how long we have to wait.'

It has been made more or less clear to Chiranjeevi that accommodating him in the Union Cabinet would be difficult as the Congress is not in a position to find a seat for him for election to the Upper House. But former minister K Vidyadhar Rao, who left the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join the PRP ahead of the 2009 elections, puts up a brave face: 'We have to have patience in politics.

The Congress itself is going through a troubled phase in Andhra Pradesh because of the statehood agitation and other problems. How can we put undue pressure for berths in the Cabinet?' At the appropriate time, he hopes that Chiranjeevi will be given a 'proper place' in the Congress. What could that be? Membership in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) as well as the Core Committee that the party intends to set up in Andhra Pradesh.

Back in their constituencies, the disillusioned PRP legislators have another problem to contend with'retaining their hold while staving off competition from Congressmen who had fought against them in the 2009 elections. That makes the chances of getting a Congress nomination in 2014 much more difficult. Not surprisingly, Chiranjeevi has ceased to be their leader.

They have, instead, turned to Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Botcha Satyanarayana, who incidentally belongs to the same community as the actor. Whether it is Cabinet berths, nominated posts or a party ticket in 2014, they seem to put more faith in Botcha than the man who promised not long ago he would be the harbinger of change, a la Barack Obama.

So what's Chiranjeevi been doing? His public appearances in the state capital have been film functions rather than political, and he visits his constituency, Tirupati, occasionally only to face protests from locals that he has been neglecting them. Occasionally, he fixes up an appointment with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy or Botcha to discuss his prospects.

PRP legislator from East Godavari district, Kanna Babu, a journalist-turned-politician, prefers to be cautious and optimistic. 'We are hoping that we will be considered for various positions whenever the situation permits. At the district-level, we are also planning coordination meetings between the Congress and PRP functionaries so that frictions do not arise.'

The PRP's vote-base has become nonexistent. Its supporters have either returned to the respective original homes'the Congress and TDP'while a considerable section has shifted loyalty to Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, including some legislators and second-rung functionaries.

As one PRP wag puts it, if there has been one singular benefit that Chiranjeevi got by the merger with Congress, it was on the personal front. His daughter, Srija, who eloped to marry Sirish Bharadwaj against family wishes, is back home after differences with her husband and the police have seen to it that Chiranjeevi's son-in-law is hit with the entire anti-dowry law book.