Bypolls 'compel' Chiranjeevi to be elusive on new party

Hyderabad, Apr 5 (UNI) Even as speculations'is rife in political circles and the media that Telugu matinee idol Chiranjeevi is likely to announce his entry into politics on Ugadi, the Telugu New year day on April seven, the megastar remained elusive on the matter, apparently in view of the impending byelections in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.

Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law Allu Aravind, parrying questions in this regard at a media conference here today, said Chiranjeevi would announce his decision in one or two months.

Sources also said the 'megastar' would not risk launching a party now with the byelection to the four Lok Sabha seats and 16 Assembly seats, vacated by the TRS on the Telangana issue, fast approaching.

Since all the byelections were from the Telangana region, the new party, by specfying its stand on Telangana, would have to face backlash from the other two regions, the sources said, adding that the actor was aware of this situation.

The actor himself had not said anything about the launch of a new party, Mr Aravind said.

Chiranjeevi was aware of the enthusiasm of the people and had a strong opinion on entering politics, he added.

The sources also said the actor was finding it difficult to decide the party symbol after retreating from the rising sun symbol as the DMK in Tamil Nadu had already been allotted the symbol and also the the party would field its candidates in Chittoor and Nellore districts of the state.

Former TDP minister K Vidyadhar Rao was expelled from the party for hobnobbing with the actor, while Congress leader T Satyanarayana Reddy resigned from the party to campaign for him in the Godavari districts.

Congress MP Hariram Jogaiah had also come out in open support for the actor, much to the embarrassment of the ruling party.

UNI DB/SM SJ LS RK2109