The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : TDP sees no threat from Chiranjeevi

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Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

TDP sees no threat from Chiranjeevi

Staff Reporter

New political entity has no ideological base, says Polit Bureau

TD plans 25 p.c. of budget for welfare if voted to power
Naidu sees nothing but ambition for power in new party

Animated discussion: TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu at the party’s Polit Bureau meeting in Anantapur on Friday.

ANANTAPUR: For the first time, film star Chiranjeevi’s proposed political party reportedly came in for dissection and sharp criticism from the Telugu Desam Party’s Polit Bureau meeting here on Friday.

After an elaborate discussion, the Polit Bureau believed to have come round to the view that the film star’s party would not pose a threat to TDP and that “people have already made up their mind to bring our party back to power, as is evident from the response to party president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘Mee Kosam’ yatra”.

The Polit Bureau members felt the new political entity was only aiming to capture power without any ideological base. It had no record of fighting for people’s problems or in exposing the shortcomings in the present system. This criticism comes in the wake of the imminent launch of the new political party in Tirupati.

Chaired by Mr. Naidu, the Polit Bureau is said to have also taken a decision to allocate 25 per cent of the budget for welfare schemes and activities, if the party was voted to power in 2009 elections.

Single-point agenda

Besides recalling the response to his ‘yatra’, Mr. Naidu is believed to have commented that the new political entity had a single-point programme of ascending to power “immediately”. He cited examples, particularly that of T. Devender Goud, who had deserted the Telugu Desam Party to form a new outfit in the name of Telangana but “failed to achieve anything”.

The Polit Bureau felt that the film star was banking on inflated hopes based on the activities of his blood bank and eye bank. In contrast, the TDP had better track record of fighting for people as well as taking up such voluntary activities, the party president is learnt to have told his colleagues.

At the same time, Mr. Naidu told his party colleagues not to resort to open criticisim of Chiranjeevi’s plans as it would send a wrong signal that the TDP was in scare of the new political formation.

The Polit Bureau constituted a six-member committee comprising Yanamala Ramakrishnudu (chairman), K. Yerran Naidu, Ummareddy Venkateswarlu, Kadiam Srihari, R. Chandrasekhar Reddy and Kalava Sreenivasulu to study the promises made by Mr. Naidu during his ‘Mee Kosam’ yatra and find ways and means for their implementation by including them in the election manifesto.

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