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Chiranjeevi’s party gets Raising Sun symbol finally

The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and the Lok Satta party of former bureaucrat Jaiprakash Narayan got a major relief Friday following the Supreme Court fiat to the Election Commission to allot them common election symbols.

Chiranjeevi thanked the apex court for its order, directing the poll panel to allot ‘rail engine’ as the symbol for PRP.

‘We had full faith in judiciary and were sure of getting justice,’ Chiranjeevi told reporters while campaigning in West Goadavari district in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The Supreme Court Friday directed the Election Commission to accommodate the demand of three registered but unrecognised political parties, including Tamil star Vijaykanth’s DMDK, for common symbol in their states.

Chiranjeevi’s party had approached the court after the Election Commission rejected its demand to allot ‘rail engine’ as the common symbol on the ground that only recognised national and state-level parties were entitled to have a fixed and common symbol.

The court order has come as a major relief to PRP, which was worried about its performance in the absence of a common symbol.

Lok Satta president Jaiprakash Narayan hailed the Supreme Court order. ‘The (whistle) symbol signifies the awakening we are trying to create among people,’ he said.

PRP finally gets ’sun’ symbol

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Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu does not seem to end the controversy over his remarks against Lok Satta Party president Dr Jayaprakash Narayan.

Naidu challenged JP to come for an open debate on the allegations that there was a nexus between the Congress and the Lok Satta. He sought to know whether there were any occasions when JP had made any serious allegations against the Congress. “People have to know whether or not the Lok Satta had indirectly benefited the Congress in the elections,” he said.

The TDP president said it was nothing but natural for a political party to analyse whether the presence of any other party in the electoral fray had scuttled its chances of coming to power. “Some of our candidates brought to my notice that they had lost because of the presence of Lok Satta. We were only discussing the issue. What was the need for the Lok Satta activists to stage dharnas on this?” he asked.

In an attempt to enlighten BCs on securing power, the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) is going to hold week-long programmes from February 1 to 7. During the week, each day’s programmes will be dedicated to the name of different historical personalities belonging to the BCs. PRP general secretary Allu Aravind announced the programme at a media meet here today. He said the week-long programme would be christened ‘Mahatma Jyothirao Phule BC Enlightenment Week’. As part of it, Assembly constituency-level conventions would be held. Aravind said though the BCs constituted 48 to 52 per cent of the State’s population, they were being kept away from political power. After PRP president Chiranjeevi’s exhortations on empowering BCs, all parties had started showering boons on them, he said. The programme on February 1 would be dedicated to the memory of Pragada Kotaiah. The next day would be called ‘Katamaraju Memorial Day’ while February 3 would be called ‘T Venkataswami Raju, Maharshi Valmiki Day’. February 4 would be observed as the day of Chakali Ilemma and poetess Molla while February 5 as Gouthu Lachanna, D Venkata Reddy and Sarvai Papanna Memorial Day, Aravind said. Programmes on February 6 will be held in the names of Pothuluri Virabrahmendra Swami and his disciple Siddaiah while those on the next day will be held in the name of Sathyalingam Nayakar. Allu Aravind also said district-level BC conventions would be held in due course and a State-level meet with a large number of BCs would soon be held. Replying to a question, Allu Aravind said he could not tell the exact number of Assembly tickets to be given to the BCs in the next elections. However, his party would try to correct the injustice done by the other political parties, he asserted. Speaking on the Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) episode, he said since the issue was before the disciplinary committee of the party, he could not comment on the allegations made by Srinivas against him.

Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi’s brother Nagababu made it clear that he along with his brother Pavan Kalyan would not contest the ensuing polls in the state.
He arrived here to take part in a party meeting on Saturday. Later, speaking to newsmen, he said that groupism in the party would no longer be tolerated and those who encourage it would be dealt with severely

Referring to the entry of leaders into Praja Rajyam from several other political parties, Mr Nagababu said that they were joining the party as they were interested in the party goals and objectives and added that in a democratic setup everyone has a right to join any party of his or her choice. However, he made it clear that only those who comply with the party norms would be given the responsibility and said that Chiranjeevi’s fans would also be given prominence. He expressed confident that the Praja Rajyam would win nearly 200 seats with 20,000 majority each in the ensuing polls for the Legislative Assembly.

Mr Nagababu said that all districts, including West Godavari, which is the home turf of Chiranjeevi, would be given equal prominence. With regard to party’s stand on Kolleru issue, he felt the need to conserve and protect the lake from environmental point of view. He said that the party high command would decide on possible alliances with other parties for the polls.

Apparently fearing criticism from the media and rival political parties, megastar and Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi changed his mind and announced that he would resume his tour before Diwali festival itself.

Chiranjeevi, who opened a new party office at Jubilee Hills on Sunday, was upset with the criticism that he had no patience to make long tours and that he was not ready for rough and tumble in politics. He said he was eager to go back into the people, but his sore throat is not allowing him to speak much. “Yet, I have decided to resume the tour at the earliest,” he said.

But, wait, he is not going to continue his extensive tour of the State. He said he would make a couple of tours in Telangana districts before Diwali for two or three days, before returning to Hyderabad. “Once my voice becomes alright, I will go all out,” he said.