Chiru doubts TDP’s Telangana stand
Takes a dig at the party’s manifesto
To the point: PR chief Chiranjeevi addressing the media in Adilabad.
ADILABAD:
Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi on Saturday criticised the Telugu Desam Party for coming out with a politically inspired election manifesto. He said the TDP was indulging in ‘vote’ politics by promising many direct benefits.
At a press conference here on the second and last day of his ‘praja ankita yatra’ in Adilabad district Mr. Chiranjeevi urged people to see through the designs of TDP. “I thought the TDP chief talked of vision 2020. It turned out to be television 2009”, he punned.
Providing a rationale for his criticism of the TDP manifesto, the PR president said political parties should aspire to increase the capacity of the people and not incapacitate them by such measures. “No country in the world has done it so far. In fact, the manifesto proposals are contrary to the beliefs held by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu earlier. It is sheer hunger for power that has made him propose such ridiculous things,” he opined.
Answering questions, Mr. Chiranjeevi said he doubted the TDP’s stand on separate Telangana though the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is its alliance partner. “Why does the TDP manifesto not touch upon the Telangana subject”, he questioned.
Congress party is the PR’s main rival in the coming elections because of the corruption launched by that party, the PR president said in response to questions. He did not rule out contesting from Telangana in addition to Tirupati. Later addressing road shows at Gudihatnoor, Ichoda, Bazarhatnoor, Neredigonda and Nirmal, Mr. Chiranjeevi said the PR will constitute a State level Corporation on the lines of the Cotton Corporation of India.
Stop political ragging: Pawan Kalyan
HYDERABAD:
Irritated with ‘unbridled criticism’ by other political parties on a daily basis, Pawan Kalyan, president of ‘Yuva Rajyam’ has called for a halt to what he termed, ‘political ragging’ of PRP by opponents.
He was interacting with the media after officially welcoming a stock-broker and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Govind Rathi and his father B.N. Rathi and their supporters from Gosha Mahal here into the PRP on Saturday.
“Judging from the way we have been criticised, one would think there was no space for new political parties. Anyway, the elections are just around the corner and time will prove how much the people trust us”, he said.
Facing a barrage of questions on the party’s stand on Telangana, Mr. Kalyan reiterated,
“The Praja Rajyam president has clearly stated that he was for a separate State. It is a commitment from his heart. What else do you people want?”.
To a question as to the definition of ‘Social Telangana’ (a term coined by the PRP), he quipped,
“It means a Telangana for the backward classes”, before hastening to add that it stood for BC leadership in a separate State.
At a separate press conference later, when T. Devender Goud, who recently merged his Nava Telangana Party with the Praja Rajyam, was asked the same question in reference to the Yuva Rajyam president’s definition, the seasoned leader responded that what Mr. Pawan Kalyan said was one way of putting it.
As for what the term stood for, he said it referred to a separate new State where social justice would be implemented in letter.
Pawan calls halt to ‘political ragging’
Market entrant: Pawan Kalyan greeting Govind Rathi who joined Praja Rajyam on Saturday.
HYDERABAD:
Irked by ‘unbridled’ criticism from political parties, Yuva Rajyam president Pawan Kalyan called a halt to what he termed ‘political ragging’ of Praja Rajyam by opponents.
Interacting with the media after officially welcoming stock-broker and BJP leader Govind Rathi and his father B .N. Rathi and their supporters finto the PR on Saturday, he said,“judging from the way we are being criticised, one would think there was no space for new political parties. Anyway, the elections are just round the corner and time will testify people’s trust us”.
Facing a barrage of questions on the party’s stand on Telangana, Mr. Kalyan reiterated, “Praja Rajyam president has clearly stated that he was for a separate State. It is a commitment from his heart. What else do you people want?”.
To a question as to the definition of ‘Social Telangana’ (a term coined by the PR), he quipped, “It means a Telangana for the Backward Classes”, before hastening to add that it stood for BC leadership in a separate State.
At a separate press conference later, T. Devender Goud when asked the same question said it referred to a separate new State where social justice would be implemented in letter and spirit.
PR to allot four seats to women in Nellore
NELLORE:
Praja Rajyam district unit has recommended the party to allot four Assembly constituencies for women. Already, the list of aspirants has been sent to the party president, said the Praja Rajyam district convener and MLC Bommireddy Raghavender Reddy.
Relatives ‘mar’ Chiru’s show
No leader is venturing to take the state of affairs to the notice of Chiranjeevi
The feeling is that the situation has slipped from bad to worse
Second-rung leaders are unhappy to a large extent
VIJAYAWADA:
The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) in the city appears to be enacting the role of a hare in the familiar tale of “The Hare and the Tortoise”. Three months ago, hectic activity was witnessed in PRP circles, but it is visibly missing at a crucial time when the elections are just about a month away.
While the initial enthusiasm is slowly waning in the PRP, activity is steadily picking up in the ruling Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and other parties. Active leaders in the PRP are panicky over this turn of events.
Some promising leaders in the PRP are attributing this sudden downslide to the “constant interference” of relatives of Allu Aravind and others in the party affairs here. One such leader says nobody is being allowed to take the initiative to take the party programmes to people, with city convener Boppana Bhava Kumar just watching the situation helplessly.
Another opinion is that Mr. Aravind and other top rung leaders are depending solely on their relatives here for any feedback and this has come as a discouragement for many enthusiastic leaders.
As the fear of relatives has gripped everybody, no leader is venturing to take the state of affairs to the notice of party president Chiranjeevi.
A strong feeling among the cadre is that the situation in the party has slipped from bad to worse since the exit of Kesineni Srinivas (Nani).
Sources in the party say that the relatives of Mr. Aravind are directly or indirectly involved in “browbeating and snubbing” other leaders, whenever they try to take up any activity on behalf of the party. Nobody in the top leadership is listening to the voices of all leaders to set right the situation. If this continues for a few more days, it is like losing the battle before it has even begun in this politically active district, the sources say.
The second-rung leaders are unhappy to a large extent over the manner in which the party affairs are being run in the city. At the same time, they are keeping silent so as not to incur the wrath of relatives.
Chiranjeevi Exclusive 