Prajayam Merges with National Party Congress

After major changes in the politic in Andhra Pradesh after death of YSR and resignation of his son YSJ to congress, megastar K. Chiranjeevi Sunday announced the merger of his Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) with the ruling Congress after a meeting with Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi in the national capital.

The actor-turned-politician said there was “no opposition” from within his three-year-old Andhra regional party to the merger.

“PRP will now merge with Congress. As of now, Chiranjeevi is part of Congress family,” Union Law Minister, M. Veerappa Moily told reporters here, with the Telegu superstar Chiranjeevi standing by his side.

Asked if he expected a cabinet berth, Chiranjeevi said, “I don’t expect anything. It is their (Congress) duty to allocate…”

Chiranjeevi, who had floated PRP in 2008, said he remained committed to social justice. “The merger will help in achieving the goal of social justice.”

“I am for the betterment of the people of the state”, he told newsmen.

Saying that there were no motives, Chiranjeevi said he was “not going to join the state government. There is no such idea”. It is a historic day, he added.

The meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Chiranjeevi Sunday took place at the invitation of the Congress president.

The decks were cleared for the merger following a meeting between Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Chiranjeevi in Hyderabad early this week.

The Congress has been worried over the threat posed by former party MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy to its government in Andhra Pradesh and had been trying to woo the PRP to either merge with it or join the government.

The PRP has 18 legislators in the 294-member assembly. The Congress with 156 members, enjoys a slender majority.

The merger evoked mixed reactions in Andhra Pradesh. While the majority of PRP legislators welcomed the move, at least two legislators supporting Jaganmohan Reddy criticised Chiranjeevi.

There were celebrations at the PRP headquarters in Hyderabad as supporters and fans of Chiranjeevi said they would continue to back him irrespective of the party he is in.

State Congress spokesman N. Tulasi Reddy said the merger would strengthen the party in Andhra Pradesh.

However, Congress leaders from Telangana, including ministers, MPs and MLAs, went into a huddle to discuss the development as Chiranjeevi is opposed to the demand for a separate Telangana state.

Pro-Telangana groups see the development as an attempt by Congress party to weaken Telangana movement.

Jaganmohan Reddy’s camp hit out at Chiranjeevi, saying the merger was for his selfish interests.

The merger comes ahead of the budget session of the state assembly beginning Feb 17.

Do you think this merger will effect the political game in any sense? comment on this issue…

If we closely observe the political trend in Andhra Pradesh Before PRP and After YSR death..
A new Party PRP lead by a person of glamor and charisma initially created a great hype like hype which is created in Movies before its release. After the release of PRP i.e.. after registering PRP, fans of Chiranjeevi and People belonging to the community to which Chiranjeevi belongs jumped into PRP from various parties and mainly from Congress. In one way, if I speak in Corporate Language PRP is SpinOFF from Congress Party. Latter on after elections Chiranjeevi could not make PRP a standard party and was able to secure only 16 seats due to many reasons, mainly due to lack of proper leadership in the party. Now after the death of YSR  Andhra Politics took a JERK with many issues like.. Telangana, Scholarships, Floods and natural calamities also added. When everyone expected and wished YSJagan as CM of andhra, congress authorities made Rosaiah then Deputy CM as Chief minister. After resignation of Rosaiah Amma (Sonia madam) took decision to make Kiran Kumar Reddy to occupy the seat of chief minister. YS Jagan and his supporters who were expecting to make him chief minister felt frustrated and YS Jagan took a decision to resign to party and the post of MP (Cudapah) while his mother Y S Vijayalakshmi resigned as MLA for the constituency. After Jagan resigned to party, many congress party members supported Jagan along with few PRP members like Bhuma Nagi reddy and Shoba Nagireddy. Now the situation is PRP-Jagan Supporter+Congress – Jagan Supporters = Congress < Congress before PRP and YSR.