Chiranjeevi to launch political party on Aug 22 in AP temple town

Hyderabad, Aug 7 (UNI) Following in the footsteps of actor-turned politician N T Rama Rao, who came to power in the 1980s trouncing the Congress within nine months of floating his party, Telugu Matinee Idol Chiranjeevi is all set to launch his political party in Tirupati on August 22, coinciding with his birthday.

The 53-year-old 'Mega Star' will come into open by addressing a mammoth public meeting in the temple town and announce policies and programmes, with likely Left leanings, according to sources close to the actor.

Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law and producer-actor Allu Arvind, who is working in the background, visited the town yesterday to finalise the venue and other preparations for the huge event.

Arrangements were being made to mobilise tens of thousands of people from all over Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Regions for the first public meeting of the actor, who has a huge fan following not only within the state but also abroad, they said.

The actor will then undertake a mass contact programme to prepare his fledgling party for the 2009 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.

Mr Arvind, the actor's brother, K Nagendra Babu and his adviser P Mitra have been holding a series of preparatory meetings with youth, women and trade unions.

His aides have also undertaken a massive awareness campaign to enrol, in a big way youth and other sections of people, who are so far not included in the electoral rolls.

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