Other States - Orissa   

PRP likely to contest a few Lok Sabha seats in State

BERHAMPUR: Praja Rajyam has no political organisation or any organised group of party cadre in Orissa, although its president K. Chiranjeevi has thought of fielding candidates in the State.

The elections are round the corner and the PRP chief has suddenly expressed his desire to expand the party beyond Andhra Pradesh to adjoining Orissa and Karnataka.

As per the reports, the PRP intends to contest in some Parliamentary constituencies in Orissa that borders Andhra Pradesh and has sizeable Telugu voters.

He intends to cash in on the Telugu factor that former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao had taken into account while choosing to contest from Berhampur Lok Sabha seat in the past.

“But neither Mr. Chiranjeevi nor his party has any organisational network in Orissa,” says senior Congress leader Chittaranjan Dash.

The Berhampur Parliamentary constituency has around 30 per cent Telugu voters. Berhampur city and Parlakhemundi town, which are part of the constituency, have Chiranjeevi fan clubs. Members of these fan clubs visited the public meetings of Mr. Chiranjeevi when he toured the adjoining Srikakulam district. But these fan clubs cannot change into political outfits overnight, says youth BJD president of Gajapati district Pradeep Nayak.

Similar is the situation in Koraput and Nowrangpur Parliamentary constituencies which border Andhra Pradesh and have Telugu voters. Senior political analyst of this region, Sudhakar Patnaik, says although there are a number fans of Mr. Chiranjeevi and his brother in the area, there is no official fan club of the cine star in undivided Koraput district.

But all political parties are closely watching the moves of the Praja Rajyam in the region. They know it will be hard for the new party of the Telugu star to consolidate the Telugu voters totally in his favour in Orissa to make any political impact.

Yet they are not taking this political rhetoric of Praja Rajyam lightly as Telugu card plays a major role in the victory of candidates in south Orissa constituencies bordering Andhra Pradesh.

“Like leaders of some other regional political parties, Mr. Chiranjeevi only wants to prove that the party has its presence beyond their State,” says Mr. Nayak.

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