PR ‘journey' comes to an abrupt end

 

New innings: Chiranjeevi with Andhra Pradesh Congress in-charge Veerappa Moily after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: The less than 30-month-long journey of the Praja Rajyam, launched amid much fanfare by film actor K. Chiranjeevi on the plank of social justice, came to an abrupt end on Sunday.

A few months before the launch of PR in 2008, Chiranjeevi had remarked that “our train is yet to reach the station”. Over these months, “the train” indeed reached the station and left but reached nowhere after the film star announced the merger of his party with the Congress. The PR joined the ranks of M. Channa Reddy's Telangana Praja Samiti, with presence in the Legislative Assembly to voluntarily end its innings without making any significant mark in State politics.

The merger has been on the cards ever since the party was in negotiations with the Congress ahead of the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and subsequently extending its support to Congress candidates in Rajya Sabha elections last March.

The party president showed a marked lack of enthusiasm in putting in place a party organisation at different levels which stunted its growth.

Mr. Chiranjeevi's party upset the applecart of the Telugu Desam Party in its run up to the last general elections securing 15.75 per cent mandate and 18 seats in the Assembly. Though it attracted several leaders from TDP, senior Congress leaders claimed that the PRP also eroded their vote bank and Congress retained power with a wafer thin majority.

Controversial revelation

The latest revelation of a letter purportedly written by late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to Congress president Sonia Gandhi immediately after the 2009 poll results showed the intense backdoor efforts by the Congress that culminated into a meeting between Core Committee member A.K. Antony on January 31 extending an invitation to Mr. Chiranjeevi.

Meanwhile, speaking to mediapersons in New Delhi Mr. Chiranjeevi stated that the merger would enable PR a bigger platform to serve people better and work towards social justice more meaningfully. The Congress leadership had assured adequate measures to ensure social justice in the State, he claimed.

Asked about his fight against corruption, the PR chief said he would continue to point out irregularities even in Congress. He was convinced by the Congress action in Commonwealth Games, 2G Spectrum, Adarsh and other scams that the party was committed to fight corruption.

He termed the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy regime from 2004 to 2009 as the most corrupt rule ever in the country and said the Congress was in the process of cleansing itself of such cancers.