Temptation to rub shoulders with the saffron brigade appears to be too strong to resist for Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi.The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), which refused to be enticed by the Congress, the BJP and the Third Front, is now yielding to the charm of the NDA.
Initially, it toyed with the idea of backing the fourth front whose contours are yet to emerge. Chiranjeevi had even described NCP’s Sharad Pawar as one who has the stuff the Prime Ministers are made of.
According to sources in the PRP, BJP MP and film actor Shatrughan Sinha is trying to make Chiranjeevi see reason in continuing his political journey with rightist party at the Centre which would prove beneficial to both.
After winning the heart of TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, the BJP has already sounded Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, though the party leaders deny vehemently any attempts to cozy up with the saffron party.
The real efforts to win Chandrababu Naidu to its side would begin in right earnest from May 16, when the fate of all parties would be known.
BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu has asked his party men not to criticise the TDP and PRP unnecessarily. Party State president B Dattatreya predicts that the TDP would emerge as the single largest party in the State and expressed readiness to support it if the TDP backs the NDA at the Centre. The BJP has elected film route to worm its way into Chiranjeevi’s heart. As Shatrughan Sinha is a family friend of Chiranjeevi, there could be no better emissary for the BJP than the Shot Gun himself.
Families of Chiranjeevi and Shatrughan Sinha visit each other even now and, whenever the yesteryear teenage heart throb happens to be in Hyderabad, he makes it a point to visit Chiranjeevi.
The PRP leaders admit in private talk that the party will prefer BJP to the Congress in the event of it having to back a party, with the fourth front not taking off and the third front showing signs of breaking up.
The film actor has a bit of emotional involvement with the BJP and that was the reason why immediately after he founded the party, BJP strongman LK Advani had called him and wished him all the best.
The BJP is also planning to use Chandrasekhara Rao to persuade Chiranjeevi to join the NDA. In fact, according to sources, Rao had promised the BJP leadership that he would get one more party to back the NDA at the Centre and that dark horse could be none other than the Praja Rajyam.
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