Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna, the two major rivals in the Telugu film industry and now rival election campaigners, have declared their intention to contest the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.
While Chiranjeevi said he will be contesting from two assembly constituency in the state, Balakrishna expressed his keen interest to fight the election with out identifying any seat. "If the party orders, I will contest against Chiranjeevi or even my sister (Congress member of Parliament and union minister) Purandareswari," Balakrishna declared during his whirlwind tour through Rayalaseema districts of Anantapur and Kurnool.
In a significant remark, which can have serious implications with in the Telugu Desam party, Balakrishna said that he was touring the state not as the brother in law of Chandrababu Naidu but as the heir to the legacy of his father N T Rama Rao.
Though Balakrsihna also insisted that he was getting good response because of the development programs of NTR and Chandrababu governments in the past, his remarks about the political heritage of his father have raised many eye-brows with in the party.
Chiranjeevi on the other hand was on a visit to Nizamabad, the heartland of Telangana region. Addressing a series of meetings on Monday Chiranjeevi said that he will be entering the electoral fray from two constituencies. This was being seen as an indication that he will also be fighting the election from Telangana region apart from his home district West Godavari in coastal Andhra.
Chiranjeevi also declared that Praja Rajyam party will contest from all the assembly and Lok Sabha seats. On the speculations that PRP may join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to take on the grand alliance of the Telugu Desam Party-Telangana Rashtriya Samiti-Left parties, Chiranjeevi said, that PRP will go alone. "There is no question of joining hands with the BJP", he said. "We will win the elections on our own", he said.
Meanwhile the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said that neither the grand alliance of the TDP nor the mega alliance of the PRP was going to stop the Congress party from returning to power in the state.
On the opening day of the last session of the Assembly, Reddy told media-persons, "A Congress victory is certain. We are going to win more than 240 assembly seats and 33 Lok Sabha seats," he said.
The chief minister stressed that the PRP was not going to have any impact and even in the East and West Godavari, where it had nominal influence.
