Many former Naxals, including those accused of murder and extortion, are now trying to get Assembly tickets from Praja Rajyam, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and other parties. Aspirants include former Maoists and activists of Naxal groups such as Prajaprathighatana and Prajapantha. The Praja Rajyam has been actively wooing former Naxals in North Telangana and Palnadu area of Guntur to strengthen its base. Several former Naxals took part in meeting conducted on February 24 at LB Nagar by Chiranjeevi in which he promised to lift the ban on Maoists if he came to power. “Former Naxals have asked for at least 10 seats from Praja Rajyam,” said Mr S. Sambasivarao, who worked for Naxal frontal groups of Guntur district. One of them is Mr K. Seshagiri Rao alias Gopanna, a former Maoist leader who has come out of the TRS protesting the formation of Mahakutami. He is now demanding a ticket for Palakurthy constituency from Praja Rajyam for his wife, Mrs N. Manjula, who is also a former Maoist. The former Naxals claim that cases were booked against them on their aliases and not on their real names. This means that technically there are no cases against them. Mr Gopanna is facing trial in the case relating to a blast at Maredumilli in East Godavari where five CRPF jawans were killed in 2001. “There were five cases against me and I was acquitted in four,” said Mr Gopanna. “Technically there are no cases against my wife either.” In Manthani in Karimngar district, a former Maoist Bakka Rao alias Bakkanna is trying for a ticket from Praja Rajyam. Similarly, Mr Goverdhan, who was a member of Prathighatana, is trying for TRS ticket from Bhoopalapally constituency and Ms Seetakka, a former Naxal, wants to contest on TD ticket from Mulugu. Mr Suguna Rao, a former Maoist from Dachepally, is trying for Gurajala constituency and Mr Rayudu Nageswara Rao wants to contest for the PR from Kakinada-2 constituency.

Has Andhra Jyothy managing director V Radhakrishna once again taken up the task of promoting Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi in the elections?

One would get the doubt after seeing the front page of the daily on Wednesday. Barring a box item against Congress MLC Premsagar who was caught red-handed with Rs 3 crore hard cash by the Income Tax officials, the entire page was dedicated to Chiranjeevi’s road show in Krishna district and his brother Pavan Kalyan’s interview. There is nothing else to read in the front page of the daily.

Initially, Radhakrishna was trying promote Chiranjeevi and project himself as a kingmaker, on the lines of Eenadu group chairman Ramoji Rao, who propped up Telugu Desam founder-president N T Rama Rao and later N Chandrababu Naidu. But, with Chiranjeevi keeping Radhakrishna at bay (obviously because of caste equations), he went back to promoting the TDP and attacking YSR. In the last few days, Radhakrishna has been attacking Sujana group’s Y S Chowdary, a close associate of Naidu and giving prominence to Chiranjeevi, though he was also highlighting Jr NTR’s road show. This has given rise to the doubts that Chiranjeevi might have sought Radhakrishna’s help in projecting the PRP and one does not know the details of bargaining between the two.

In Eenadu, too, there is no major news on the front page, except an expected analytical report on high command overruling several of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s suggestions in the selection of MP candidates for the elections. Apart from that, there are a couple of photographs of Chiranjeevi’s and Jr NTR’s road shows. Chiranjeevi’s promise of providing LPG at Rs 100 was also highlighted at the top.

On the other hand, Sakshi’s banner story is about Indiramma housing scheme coming to a grinding halt due to implementation of model code of conduct and the Opposition parties raising needless controversies. It was a sort of explanation from the government for not completing the houses in time. Apart from IT officials arresting the Congress MLC at the Delhi airport, all the other stories are political press conferences: one by Naidu, defending his relationship with Jr NTR and another by Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao, who explained the pathetic childhood of Jr NTR.

Like other film industries, Tollywood too has its share of professional bickerings and catfights, but a few young stars seem to get along like a house on fire.

It re-affirms the faith that ‘human bonding’ can break all boundaries, even in professions where competition is the driving force. Undoubtedly, there may be many more friends in the film fraternity but we are just talking about a couple of friendships which indicate that actors do value personal relationships over professional considerations.

Can stars sharing the same profession be good friends? “Why not?” Ram Charan retorts. It is well-known that Ram Charan Tej and Allu Arjun are buddies and are always seen together. “Recently, Arjun heard a script for one of his films but later sent it to me. When I heard it, I felt that it was an amazing script, but he felt that I would suit the role better and sent it across to me,” he says. Ram Charan believes that friendships are sustained by giving considerable ‘personal and professional space’ and are built on mutual trust.

Similarly, we discovered that Ileana was also caught in a professional dilemma due to her friendship with Parvati Melton. The friendship between Ileana and Parvati Melton happened on the sets of Jalsa and it gradually strengthened over time. Recently, Ileana was reluctant to replace her friend Parvati, despite it being a plum offer opposite Mahesh Babu. “She was unwilling to take it up and we realised that it was due to her friendship with Parvati. The role finally went to another actress,” says Giridhar, manager to both Ileana and Parvati.

And there are more friendships, some quiet… some flamboyant. Actors like Prabhas and Gopichand have been friends for over a decade. The stars who shared screen space in Varsham have never flaunted their friendship, but new entrants like Varun Sandesh and Nikhil like declaring their friendship. “I threw a party to celebrate Varun’s hit film and vice versa,’ says Nikhil, who is happy to have such a ‘trustworthy’ buddy with whom he can discuss all matters under the sun.

1.Kadapa – Khaleel Pasha

2.Tirupathi – Varaprasad

3.Vijayawada – Vangaveeti radha/ K Kumar

4.Mahaboob Nagar – Vital Rao

5.Narsapurram- Parakala Prabhakar

6.Anakapalli – KV Rao

7.Eluru – Reddy Yadav

8.Vizayanagaram – Kala Venkat Rao

9.Jaheerabad – Siva Kumar Lingayath

10.Kareem Nagar – PapaRao

11.Srikakulam – Thammineni Seetharam

12.Nizamabad – Siva Shankar/

13.Medak – Fhayeem

14.Warangal – Sreedhar/Rajanna

15.Nellore – Penchalayya

16.Pedapalli – Dr.Buchchanna

17.Malakajgiri – Devendar Goud

18.Nagarkurnool – Sathish Madiga

19.Secundrababd -Dr.Vinaya

20.Chitoor -Manohar/Nagabhushanamma

21.Guntur – Thota Chandrashekar

22..Nandyala – Bhooma Nagi Reddy

23.Ananthapur – Mansoor

#This list has to be announced officially…….