TDP convincing Tollywood star Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad, Apr 12 (UNI) In the wake of speculation that Tollywood matinee idol Chiranjeevi was planning to float a political party before the 2009 Assembly election, the Andhra Pradesh Opposition TDP is busy convincing the Telugu film stars to support the party in the coming election.

According to party sources here, TDP President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had a luncheon meeting with the Telugu hero and his brother-in-law Balakrishna and MP Harikrishna along with his two sons Junior N T Rama Rao and Kalyan Ram, who are also film actors.

Balakrishna and Harikrishna are the sons of TDP founder and former Chief Minister late N T Rama Rao, who was also a mass Telugu film star before launching the political party in 1982.

Noticing the threat from Chiranjeevi's political entry in the state to the TDP, former Minister from West Godavari district K Vidyadhar Rao quit TDP and announced his support to that ctor recently. Mr Naidu discussed the campaign strategy with the film star, before launching the 150-day 'radha yatra' in the state from next month.

Sources said film actors agreed to campaign for the TDP in the bypolls for 16 Assembly constitutencies and four Lok Sabha seats, which fell vacant after the resignation of TRS MLAs recenlty.

Mr Naidu is preparing an election campaign strategy with the support of the film actors to strengthen the party before the election and to stop the migration of TDP leaders to other parties.

The TDP had recently constituted a five-member committee to study the impact of Chiranjeevi's political entry in the party.

UNI AP GKT HS RN2055