Hyderabad: It is an irony of sorts. On a day when Prajarajyam president K Chiranjeevi boasted that his party would be swept to power, within the party, leaders and the cadre are wondering whether the PRP would be in existence by the time the next elections happen.
Just eight months after a promising start and a huge public meeting in Tirupati, the PRP is going through an existential dilemma. “For a party that had promised social justice, tickets for the Lok Sabha and assembly seats have been sold away to all and sundry. And all the few that joined the party with a genuine dream of social change have been left out in the cold. In cinema terms, PRP is a commercial hit. All the prints have been sold at a huge price. Now, the producers need not worry whether the movie would perform or not,” is what an admirer of Chiranjeevi who could not get a ticket from a constituency in Anantapur district said as to what is happening within the party.
Thus an exodus has begun even before the election results are out. This even as allegations are floating around that some rich TDP candidates and some ministers in the Congress have got weak candidates of their choice fielded on behalf of the PRP by paying money to its leadership. Many expressed shock over the PRP giving a ticket to D K Srinivas, son of liquor baron, TTD chairman and now Congress leader D K Adikesavulu.
Those unhappy over the direction the PRP is heading include Chiranjeevi himself, according to party sources. “Many influential Congress and TDP legislators who had earlier promised to join him have backtracked,” said one leader. Bureaucrat K V Rao and Dalit leader K S R Murthy are sore that they have been denied tickets. Seniors like P Shivshankar and P Upendra too are unhappy as they have been given no role in party affairs. Women’s wing chief N Shobarani too is likely to leave the party after being denied a ticket from Vemur in Guntur district. BC aspirant B Rajkumar is livid that movie star U Krishnam Raju, who joined the party only last week, has been preferred over him for the Rajahmundry seat.
G Samaram, noted social activist from Vijayawada, went on record to say that the social justice concept was only an appealing mask. “Now, it is clear that social justice of Chiranjeevi is ‘social justice for his men’,” he told the media. All those who joined the party with the hope that Annayya (Chiranjeevi) would herald social justice have left it disillusioned, he said.
In this context, it has already become an issue of survival for the PRP. “With insiders and surveys predicting two Lok Sabha and between 30-35 assembly seats, can Chiranjeevi stop an exodus of his elected representatives and other leaders to other parties? And what will he himself do with that many number of seats. As an opposition leader, it would be difficult for him to keep the party going for five years,” said one analyst.
Thus even before it faces the people, the PRP appears to crumble from within.
Click Here For PRP Released First Candidates List
Click Here For PRP Released Second Candidates List
Click Here For PRP Released Third Candidates List
Click Here For PRP Released Fourth Candidates List
Click Here For PRP Released Fifth Candidates List
Click Here For PRP Released Sixth Candidates List
Click Here For PRP Released Seventh Candidates List
