Himanshu Kapoor
Popularly known as "MegaStar" by his fans and admirers, Chiranjeevi forayed into the murky world of politics after a successful career in cinema. He announced his formal entry into politics in 2008 when he formed the Praja Rajyam Party. Floating the new political outfit, Chiranjeevi had stated that social justice will be the main agenda of his party and he proved it by giving 104 MLA tickets to the backward sections in the state including a poor tribal woman Tupakula Munemma.
He contested in 2009 general elections and won from Tirupati constituency as MLA in Andhra Pradesh. But the party got a major drubbing and could not make any major wins. Chiranjeevi himself contested from two different constituencies (Palakollu and Tirupathi) in 2009 elections and lost in Palakollu. Praja Rajyam got only 18 MLA seats in the 2009 general elections.
However, the actor-turned-politician wasn’t disheartened by the disappointing results and continued his political journey with hopes on future. In 2011, Chiranjeevi merged the 30-month-old Praja Rajyam Party with the Indian National Congress after talks with Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, which feared the no-confidence motion in the state assembly in the wake of the emergence of Jagan Mohan Reddy`s YSR Congress Party and the stronghold of Telangana agitation.
After more than one year of merging his party into Congress, he was given the Rajya Sabha seat on March 29, 2012 as a part of the agreement with the Congress. He took the oath as a Rajya Sabha member on April 3, 2012. On October 28, 2012, he was sworn in as the Union Minister of State (Independent charge), Ministry of Tourism.
Chiranjeevi, whose original name was Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad, is a Kapu by caste, expects to capture this traditional vote in the prosperous coastal Andhra. He wants to portray himself as a messiah of Kapus, OBCs, Dalits and the tribal people by bringing all of them under one shed.
Born on August 22, 1955 in Narsapur, West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, Chiranjeevi was interested in acting from a very young age. After graduating with a degree in commerce from Sri Y N College at Narsapur, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai and joined the Madras Film Institute in 1976 to pursue a career in acting. It was his mother advised him to take up the screen name Chiranjeevi as the family worshipped Anjaneya, a Hindu deity.
Following his brother Chiranjeevi`s footsteps, Pawan Kalyan had also floated a politcial party called `Jana Sena` and has already done a clever thing. He has aligned with Modi. The move has boosted the BJP in Telangana where TRS, Congress, BJP, TDP, YSRCP, CPI, CPM and AAP are fighting for and 17 Lok Sabha seats. With BJP almost non-existent in the entire Andhra Pradesh, Kalyan can add some votes to the alliance. Whereas, in Seemandhra, the Congress is struggling to find candidates for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, following its decision to create Telangana which will come into existence on June 2. The mass exodus of Congress leader to other major parties, the INC`s prospects of winning in Seemandhra, which has 25 Lok Sabha seats compared to 17 in Telangana, are not looking good.
He has acted even in Hindi movies and his performance was appreciated in many Bollywood movies including Prathibandh (1990), Aaj Ka Goonda Raj (1992), and The Gentleman (1994). Some of his Telugu films were dubbed in Hindi like Indra-the tiger, Coolie, Himmatwala, Bajrang-The Heman.
Apart from politics and movies, Chiranjeevi has been involved in humanitarian work. He, in 1998, founded the Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust (CCT), which includes Chiranjeevi Blood and Eye Banks - state`s largest recipient of blood and eye donations. The trust has made over 68,000 blood donations and 1,414 eye donations. The Blood Bank of the CCT has helped over 80,000 people and the Eye Bank has helped about 1,000 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh since its opening.
Chiranjeevi, is a crowd puller everywhere as the election scenario in Andhra Pradesh is in full spirit because of both parliamentary and state assembly elections simultaneously.
