Chiranjeevi hails Supreme Court order on Tirupati meet

Hyderabad, Aug 21: Telugu actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi Thursday hailed the Supreme Court verdict allowing him to hold a public meeting at the temple town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh Aug 26 to formally launch his political party. The apex court order on a petition filed by a non-governmental organization cleared the decks for the superstar`s first public meeting scheduled to be held at the Avilala tank bed. Reacting to the court order, Chiranjeevi said he was happy that hurdles in his way were being removed. "Nobody can stop us in our way to achieve the goal. God is on our side. People too are with us," he said. The Supreme Court Thursday refused to stop the meeting while adjourning the final hearing on the petition. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice B.N. Agarwal turned down a plea by the Intellectual Forum, which had sought directions to the Andhra Pradesh government to withdraw its permission to the rally. The NGO had argued that the meeting would lead to massive destruction of vegetation in the area and pose a threat to environment. The Supreme Court in 1997 had banned any construction in the 176-acre area around the Avilala tank and had ordered preservation of the tank. Chiranjeevi is all set to address a mammoth public meeting at the tank bed. More than a million people are expected to attend the meeting, where the superstar would announce the name and agenda of his political party. Hundreds of vehicles and trains will ferry people from different parts of the state to the venue. The actor has also urged railways to run 10 special trains to enable people to reach Tirupati. He also appealed to the state government Thursday to make security arrangements for the meeting. He said this would be in addition to the private security to be provided by his aides. Meanwhile, a group of 300 Telugu NRIs launched `maha yatra` from here to mobilize support for the public meeting. They will travel to some major towns and villages before reaching Tirupati. About 5,000 NRIs, mainly from the US, are likely to attend the public meeting. IANS