FROM TINSELTOWN: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy welcoming actor Srihari into the party fold in Hyderabad on Sunday. — PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Telugu film actor Srihari, who was selected for the State Government's Nandi award on Saturday, joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, here on Sunday.

Mr Srihari called on Dr. Reddy at his camp office accompanied by the State Film Development Corporation Chairman, G. Adiseshagiri Rao, and State Cultural Council Chairman, Dharmavarapu Subrahmaniam.

Talking to the media, Dr. Reddy praised Srihari for his steady climb to stardom and said that he would be useful to strengthen the hands of the Congress and its president, Sonia Gandhi. Dr. Reddy said the film actor would henceforth participate in all programmes of the Congress and plunge into electioneering at Karimnagar and Bobbili.

Mr. Subrahmaniam said it was a `homecoming' for Srihari as he was associated with the Congress programmes from the beginning. Srihari himself conceded that he was a Congress sympathiser for the last two decades.

He did not feel as if he was joining the party only now, he said.

The slain Congress leader from Vijayawada, Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao, was his political mentor. Asked by reporters if he was joining the Congress following his selection for a Nandi award, Mr Srihari merely said that the award should be judged on its merits.

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