Raju was a BJP MP who was chargeable for transferring vital payments just like the Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Bill, 2000. This had been thought-about a private challenge that the then MP and now UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, had been eager to pursue. Raju was additionally a Union Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s authorities.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is predicted to attend a condolence assembly in Hyderabad for the legendary Telugu actor, UV Krishnam Raju, who died final Sunday. During the journey, Rajnath Singh can be prone to meet Prabhas, who’s the well-known nephew of the actor who died.
Opportunity in Crisis?
Raju’s condolence meet appears to have offered the BJP with a chance to attach with famous person Prabhas, who boasts of a humongous fan base within the two Telugu-speaking states—Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In 2015, Raju tried to get Prabhas concerned with the BJP by taking him to New Delhi to satisfy Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, since then, Prabhas has stayed away from politics.
However, Prabhas shouldn’t be the primary actor the BJP has tried to achieve out to previously few days. Home Minister Amit Shah met with Telugu movie star Jr. NTR on August 21, throughout his day-lengthy go to to Hyderabad.
Jr. NTR is the grandson of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder NT Rama Rao and is in style for having starred within the Magnum Opus RRR.
Banking on the Superstars
One of the best-paid actors within the Indian movie business, Prabhas belongs to the highly effective Kshatriya group. Given the massive recognition of the actor and his projection as a “caste icon” by his followers, this might show to be extraordinarily helpful for the BJP.
The Kshatriya group shouldn’t be recognized to lean in direction of any explicit political social gathering, however the BJP can leverage this assist if they’ll persuade Prabhas to hop on their bandwagon.
On the opposite hand, Jr. NTR belongs to the favored Kamma group, which has been the normal backer of the TDP. With lots of his followers selling him as a “caste icon,” the BJP could possibly attain out to 2 of essentially the most highly effective communities within the Telugu-speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Jr. NTR’s father, N Harikrishna, was a TDP MLA and Rajya Sabha member. Back in 2009, he additionally campaigned for the TDP, based by his grandfather, however has steered away from politics since then.
Currently, the BJP holds an alliance with actor-politician Ok Pawan Kalyan’s social gathering, Jana Sena Party (JSP). If the BJP is additional profitable in bringing the star duo on board, it might massively enhance their political fortunes within the Assembly elections of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
This shouldn’t be the primary time that the BJP is searching for to leverage assist from an actor’s huge stardom and fanbase. Back in 2014, Narendra Modi famously flew kites with actor Salman Khan on Makar Sankranti.
Political Ventures of Tollywood Actors
Except for NT Rama Rao, who based TDP and went on to turn into the chief minister of the state, the numerous political ventures of different Tollywood actors have didn’t yield many outcomes and have been politically and electorally inconsequential.
Megastar Ok Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) tried to mobilize the assist of its chief’s influential Kapu group. In the 2008 Assembly elections, Chiranjeevi’s social gathering gained 18 out of 294 seats in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
However, the social gathering ultimately folded up and merged with Congress.
The JSP, based by Pawan Kalyan, who occurs to be Chiranjeevi’s brother, managed to win just one seat within the 2019 Andhra Assembly polls. In the 2014 meeting elections, he campaigned for the BJP-TDP alliance, which offered the push wanted for TDP because the social gathering gained a slender majority within the 2014 meeting elections.
Firebrand actress S Vijayshanti had floated the Talli Telangana Party (TTP), which later folded up. Since then, she has been making political somersaults from the BJP to the TRS to Congress and eventually again to the BJP now.
