The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Chiru’s birth place waits for his foray into politics

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Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Chiru’s birth place waits for his foray into politics

G. Nagaraja

‘He used to go to college on a bicycle from Mogaltur to Narsapur’

MOGALTURU (WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT): This sleepy and sea-side village in West Godavari district has suddenly shot into limelight. It’s not because of the rebel star U. Krishnam Raju’s native place but the Mega Star Chiranjeevi’s birthplace.

The village with a status of major gram panchayat becomes a favourite destination for outsiders, mainly the media, and the opinion of commoners finds space in the print and electronic media quite often in the face of reports of the Mega Star’s entry into politics.

The palace of Mr. Krishnam Raju, who belongs to the royal dynasty of the Mogaltur Kings, stands in majesty almost next to an ordinary tiled house, where ‘Chiru’ was born, toddled and grown up. But the visitors tend to have their eyes fixed on the tiled house and the sprawling backyard where he played during his childhood in a bid to trace the reminiscences of the film hero.

Huge cutout

A huge cutout with a bust size picture of Chiranjeevi is hung from a tree branch in front of his ancestral house. A small group inside the house got engaged in a discussion on the Chiru’s prospects in politics.

The house fails to have live contact with the family of the Mega Star as it was sold away nearly two decades ago. But the buyer,

Tangella Joga Rao, takes pride in living a house which gave birth to a ‘great hero’ like Chiranjeevi. “I am a strong Chiru admirer. I want him to make a foray into politics at the earliest and contest from his hometown of Narsapur,” he observes.

“He pedalled a bicycle from our village to Narsapur and had his graduation in the town. It’s a real way of paying back to his hometown”, he says.

A few meters away from the Chiru’s ancestral house is Ramalayam centre which is bustling with activity as a group of energetic youth in their 20s are busy erecting a life-size flex board with the pictures of Chiru and his brother Nagendra, welcoming them into politics. Chegondi Prasad, an intermediate dropout and diehard fan of the Mega Star, says “It’s only Chiru who can cleanse the present politics riddled in corruption and uplift the poor and weaker sections”.

But the scene in the nearby Guntapallepalem, a fishermen habitation falling under the Mogaltur gram panchayat, is quite different. “I never saw Chiranjeevi and even heard him. I don’t watch films and read newspapers either,” Kolata Venkateswarlu, who is obviously quite unaware of Chiru’s political plans.

M. Srinivas, a final year Engineering student residing just opposite the Chiru’s ancestral house, ironically endorsed the fisherman’s views while expressing his disliking for politics.

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