Spoiler Chiranjeevi could play into the hands of Congress

From being a contender for the chief minister’s chair in Andhra Pradesh, actor-politician Chiranjeevi is now emerging as a spoiler, at least for non-Congress parties.

Though the chances of his political outfit — Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) — emerging as the single largest entity to form a government in the state appear weak, PRP is likely to bag five seats in the Lok Sabha. And this, say sources, has made Chiranjeevi a major spoiler for all parties except the Congress.

Though Chiranjeevi’s glamourous presence was not seen in all the 294 Assembly and 42 Lok Sabha constituencies, his presence was strong in East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur, Prakasham, parts of North Coastal Andhra and Chittoor. These are also the pockets where Chiranjeevi’s films would attract house-full crowds.

The PRP is likely to get the votes of two kinds of people — those seeking change or those who swear by the matinee idol. But that is not likely to make him a winner. According to backroom boys of the Congress and the TDP, the votes Chiranjeevi gets will spoil the chances of non-Congress parties.

“Our surveys have shown that the PRP has managed to cut into the vote banks of the TDP, the Left and other parties. Interestingly, the vote bank of the Congress has remained intact,” a party official said.

By cutting into the vote bank of the opposition and weakening the chances of these parties, Chiranjeevi is said to have, by default, brightened the chances of the Congress.
Elections were held in two phases in Andhra Pradesh. The first phase included Telangana and North Andhra while the rest of the state went to vote in the second phase. The PRP was nearly non-existent in the first phase, while its presence was felt strongly in the second.

But, a TDP insider said that the PRP played a similar role in parts of Telangana. “The party split votes, particularly in places like Karimnagar. Unfortunately, these situations will only impact the opposition since it is voters of the opposition who turn out to be unpredictable. Compared to the 2004 election, when the Congress and its allies had swept the polls, the opposition had to work hard to woo those voters away from the Congress this time.

In this scenario, the PRP tapped some such voters,” he said.