Talli Telangana president and former actress Vijayashanti said on Tuesday that actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi was not a hero for her. "He was only a cinema hero for me," she said at a meet-the-press programme at the Press Club here. "He is definitely not a political hero for me."

Vijayashanti explained that she had been in politics for the past 11 years and had also espoused the Telangana cause for that long. "I was the first and only woman politician to launch a political party in the State," she said.

She demanded the BJP to include the separate Telangana issue in the election manifesto of the NDA to gain the confidence of the people of the region. "Though the BJP went back on its promise to form the separate state when it was in power, we still can trust only the NDA as the UPA was clearly against the Telangana demand," Vijayashanti added. When asked about the proposed electoral alliance between the TRS and the CPI (M) in the State, she stated that the Marxists should first have supported the Telangana State.

"It is not good that they are still supporting united Andhra," she said. "The TRS should have allied with them only after they expressed support to the Telangana demand." Vijayashanti decried the CPI’s suggestion for a power sharing proposal between the Telugu Desam and the Praja Rajyam and said it was aimed at denying a chance to a Telangana leader to become Chief Minister.

She urged all the Telangana forces to jointly contest the next elections in order to avoid a split in Telangana votes. The actress sharply refuted allegations that she was a Congress agent and said they were being spread to malign her.

There are no takers for the Praja Rajyam (PR) president, Chiranjeevi’s call for tree plantation in the district. Chiranjeevi had called upon his party’s supporters to take part in a tree plantation programme to plant 1 crore saplings. He asked the party supporters to plant saplings from October 2 to 11 and promote a better environment. Except for a couple of functions where the tree plantation was taken up, there were no other programmes in the district.

The leaders were busy in fighting among themselves and no leader was confident of his or her place in the party. There was a clear lack of coordination in the party as it was yet to create a hierarchy in the district. “Everything is being dictated by a coterie from Hyderabad. There is no leader for the party in the district and at least there is no committee of the party here to take up its programmes,” said a senior leader, who is repenting his decision to join the PR.

After Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi floated a political party named 'Praja Rajyam' its now Tamil Mega Star Rajinikanth's turn. Some of the fans of Rajinikanth launched a political party in Coimbatore in a bid to pressure him to enter into politics.

The activists of 'Rajini Narpani Manram' who launched the party at a meeting on Monday, Oct 6 said that there is no official word from the association at Chennai but they believe the name and flag would be the symbols of aspirations of thousands of fans. The fans association also said that they are planning to send requests to 'Shivaji' to authorise the symbols.
The fans released the flag and announced the party's name as 'Desiya Dravida Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (DDMMK).'The tricolour flag, in red, white and black, features Rajinikanth's face inside a shining star, was released during the Manram's (association) meeting. Sources said that The meeting also passed a resolution requesting their star to stop acting in films and enter politics.

Some fans had already pasted wall posters last week, announcing the desire of fans for his entry into politics and giving a broad hint that the party would be named 'Rajinirajyam' on the lines of Prajarajyam floated by Telugu filmstar Chiranjeevi.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership in the state will decide whether to join hands with the Telugu Desam or the Praja Rajyam after gauging the public reaction to Chiranjeevi’s yatra. Though the CPI(M) has agreed to form an electoral pact with the Telangana Rastra Samiti, it has adopted a wait and watch policy as far as the TD and the Praja Rajyam are concerned. This was evident from the deliberations of the CPI(M) state committee which met on Monday in Hyderabad.

The committee reportedly resolved to maintain strategic silence on the pre-poll alliance with the TD for the time being. A leader who participated in the meeting said that the CPI(M) would be keenly monitoring Chiranjeevi’s yatra to find out how much clout he wielded among the public in the state. "We are also waiting for Chiranjeevi’s party to reveal its stand on key issues such as the Indo-US nuclear deal, the economic reforms, World Bank policies and the attitude towards the BJP," said the leader.

"We were informed by the Praja Rajyam leaders that all this would be spelt out during Chiranjeevi’s yatra. So we decide to wait." Meanwhile, the CPI(M) politburo member, Mr Sitaram Yechury, said that the party had not taken any decision on whether to align with the TD or with the Praja Rajyam.

"We feel that alliances among the Opposition parties in the state should be forged on the basis of the alliances at national level," he added. When asked the new friendship between the TRS and the CPI(M), Mr Yechury said, "We are moving with the aim to dislodge the Congress government as well as to keep the communal BJP away from power. For this, we are bringing anti-Congress and anti-BJP forces to one platform."

The CPI(M) leader said that the party’s central committee would take a clear stance on pre-poll alliances during its meetings to be held on October 13 and 14 in Kolkata. DC

With megastar Chiranjeevi stirring up the political atmosphere with his entry, filmstars backing the other main political parties in th
e state are working overtime to sway their fans.

On Sunday, there was action at two film studios in the city with the stars holding meetings with their fans.
While the Nandamuri clan’s action was seen at the Ramakrishna Horticultural Cine Studios at Nacharam, hero Krishna met up with his fans at the Padmalaya studios.

NTR’s clan including Balakrishna, NTR Jr, Kalyan Ram and Tarakaratna displaying unity and declaring that there were no differences in their family urged the hundreds of fans who had thronged the place to work for the victory of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the next elections.

Fans at Ramakrishna Studios could not stop their enthusiasm and while promising to work for the victory of TDP during the elections said “this time we will help Chandrababu Naidu to become the chief minister but our ultimate goal is to see Balaiahbabu,” as the chief minister.

Addressing the fans, Balakrishna asked them to rid the state of corrupt and inept administration. The fruits of the welfare schemes were not reaching the people as the Congress government was deep rooted in corruption.
He said that he along with his nephews would tour the state and launch a massive campaign against corruption and expose the misdeeds of the government.

At the Padmalaya Studios, Krishna told scores of his son Mahesh Babu’s fans that they should ensure that the Congress romps home to power when elections are held.

Krishna, however, told his fans that his son Mahesh Babu would not enter politics now.

The yesteryear hero, known as ‘superstar’ reminded his fans that he had always been with the Congress. Krishna, it may be mentioned here, had also been a Congress MP.

So long as Chiranjeevi appeared to be wavering in his decision about entering politics, both the TDP and the Congress showed no interest in using their back-up ‘star power’ for political needs.

With the need now arising because of Chiranjeevi taking the plunge, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu recently met NTR’s son Balakrishna, Harikrishna and his sons Kalyan Ram and NTR junior.

However, Tarakaratna, son of Mohan Krishna, one of NTR’s sons recently ruffled feathers when in a meeting at Vinukonda in Guntur district declared that the Telugu Desam Party belonged to his grandfather NTR and Balakrishna was their future leader.

Since he did not take Chandrababu Naidu’s name, Naidu quickly saw Tarakaratna’s mood and invited even him for another meeting he had with the actors in NTR’s clan.

All the actors met up with their fans at the Ramakrishna Horticultural Cine Studios at Nacharam and urged them to gear up for a massive show in Guntur later this month.

With such activity being seen regularly in the Telugu Desam Party camp, hero Krishna also put up a show at the Padmalaya studios.

His son Mahesh Babu is a crowd puller and who had delivered huge hits in recent years. In the Telugu film industry, he is now the biggest star.

The support of the fans of Krishna and Mahesh Babu would be of great help to the Congress to attempt to upset Chiranjeevi’s calculations.

Ashwini Dutt said that he will not join Chiru party and stay in Telugu Desam only. “If TDP orders I will contest once again from Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency”, said Dutt.

Ashwini Dutt is close to Chiru and produced several hit movies under his banner Vyjayanthi Movies. His films Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari and Indra made with Chiru created box office records. Dutt also produced the first film of Chiru’s son Ramcharan.

In the last elections Chiru supported Dutt in Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency but could not win over Congress leader Lagadapati Rajagopal.