PRP in crisis: How political star cast became one-man show

After poll debacle and dissatisfaction over lack of democracy in Chiranjeevis party,many leaders are calling it quits....

For Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi,politics has come full circle. He launched his Praja Rajyam Party single-handedly on August 26,2008,and close to a year later,he finds himself essentially alone again and is desperately trying to keep his small flock of 17 MLAs together. In between he welcomed into his party IAS,IPS and IRS officers,intellectuals,activists,doctors and political leaders with myriad ideologies all attracted by his persona and promise of bringing freshness into politics,and his platform of delivering social justice and service to the poor.

Early this month,T Devender Goud,the senior-most leader in the PRP and Chiranjeevis second-in-command,quit and went back to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from which he had resigned last June. Goud was preceded by over two dozen leaders,including PRP co-founder Dr P Mithra Reddy who quit after the partys disastrous poll showing.

When Chiranjeevi launched the PRP last year,it was viewed as one of the most promising recent political developments in South India. He was expected to repeat the achievments of N T Rama Rao,who launched the TDP in 1982 and famously went on to become the chief minister a year later.

Chiranjeevi had no shortage of accomplished takers for his brand of politics. Besides senior Maharashtra-cadre IAS officer T Chandrashekhar, who resigned from service to join the PRP,former IPS officer C Anjaneya Reddy,leading surgeon Dr G Samaram,all joined the party. With Dr P Mithra Reddy,who hails from a prominent family of communist leaders,and Dr Parakala Prabhakar as part of the think-tank,it was a formidable group that was all set shake up Andhra politics. Almost a year later,the party itself has been turned upside down.

While the Congress and TDP were soon made nervous by his hugely popular road shows and public meetings,Chiranjeevi soon discovered that fans dont always add up to votes the PRP got only 18 seats in the Assembly and none in the Lok Sabha. Chiranjeevi himself contested two Assembly seats,winning from Tirupati but losing from Palacole in his home district,West Godavari.

From that point,the party has gone into a downward spiral. The poll debacle prompted the exit of several leaders,even as the actor turned politician is trying to keep his 17 MLAs together. Most of them are unhappy with the way the party is functioning. Others are disillusioned with its policy of social justice and reaching out to the masses as no such attempt has been made so far by Chiranjeevi himself, a senior leader observed.

Another source of discontent has been the presence of Chiranjeevis brother-in-law Allu Aravind. He made most of the leaders who quit very uncomfortable. They alleged Aravind had a stranglehold on the party and did not allow transparency and democracy. Though Chiranjeevi is learnt to have tried to keep Aravinds involvement aside,the damage has been done, says former PRP spokesperson Dr Parakala Prabhakar,who quit before the elections.

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On July 31,delivering a sudden jolt,veteran actor and former Union minister U V Krishnam Raju quit the PRP saying that he was disillusioned with its concept of social justice. Raju,who has acted in over 150 Telugu films,quit the BJP a few months before the PRP was formed to join hands with Chiranjeevi. He contested the Lok Sabha polls on a PRP ticket from Rajahmundry and lost.

A day later,Goud,too,left the PRP. Now he has rejoined the TDP,which he had quit last year,citing serious differences with the partys president N Chandrababu Naidu over his stand on Telangana. A prominent backward classes leader,Goud was a member of the TDPs politburo and Naidus second-in-command. Goud subsequently launched his Nava Telangana Party (NTP) but merged it with the PRP just before the elections. He contested the Lok Sabha polls from Malkajgiri constituency and from Ibrahimpatnam Assembly seat in Ranga Reddy,losing both.

Sources said that with leaders regularly quitting the party,Chiranjeevi is trying to keep 17 MLAs together by organising meetings,listening to their suggestions and seeking their advice on matters related to the Assembly. However, Chiranjeevi as floor leader has not made much of an impression. He even remarked that when he acts,people watch him but in the Assembly,it is he who watches as Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and Leader of Opposition Chandrababu Naidu trade insults.

Not as sure of himself as he was before the elections,Chiranjeevi acknowledges he may have failed to read the masses. I think we concentrated too much on social justice. But I still think that given time,the party will bounce back. We will fine-tune and fix things. A number of leaders have quit recently probably because they did not get what they wanted. Many lost elections and others may have felt that being with a party with a few MLAs isnt very promising for their careers. I dont blame them. It was their wish to join me,it is their wish now if they want to go. I will continue to lead the party with whoever wishes to stay with me, the PRP chief said.

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But first,Chiru will have to set things right in his party. And that is not an easy task. Sources in PRP said that the political affairs committee meetings chaired by C Ramachandraiah and attended by Chiranjeevi have become stormy in the party as leaders who are sidelined by the party leadership have started expressing their dissent.

Another high-profile leader to quit the party was ideologue and co-founder Dr P Mithra Reddy. Mithra did not specify any reasons but said he no longer saw any role for himself in the party. Earlier,spokesperson Dr Parakala Prabhakar also quit alleging that there was no democracy and transparency in the party.

Two other leaders who quit TDP to join PRP K Vidhyadhara Rao and T Sitaram are also trying to go back to the TDP. Sources said that P Vinay Shankar,son of former Union minister P Shiv Shankar,has also stopped going to the party office. Others who have been complaining of being sidelined are T Sesha Narayan,media committee in-charge,political affairs committee chairman C Ramachandraiah,and former Congress MP Hariram Jogaiah. Former IPS officer C Anjaneya Reddy,and PRP youth president C Venkateshwara Rao have already quit.