Hyderabad:
Actor Chiranjeevi knows what stand he wants to take (currently) on the issue of Telangana. The problem is, he doesn't know how strong that stand should be.
On Wednesday morning, the actor-turned-politician announced that he would begin a hunger strike in support of "a United Andhra" at Tirupati on Thursday morning. That offer was quickly withdrawn when various pro-Telangana groups warned that no movies with any connection to Chiranjeevi would be screened in Telangana, a key territory for film distributors.
Student groups from Osmania University and other colleges said they would boycott not just Chiranjeevi's films, but those produced by his family's production company as well.
Chiranjeevi's passion for One Andhra is newfound. He fought the Lok Sabha elections this year on a promise of statehood for Telangana. He had also expressed his support for a Telangana state at an all-party meeting before the Centre sanctioned the new state. His switcharoo is by no means the only one that's stumped Andhra. Chandrababu Naidu has also done a complete u-turn after close to 50 of his MLAs resigned in protest against the Centre said yes last week to a new Telangana state.
Like Naidu, Chiranjeevi is also confronting the threat of a split in his party.
On Wednesday morning, Chiranjeevi mets MLAs from his Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) ; 16 of the MLAs from non-Telangana regions have resigned in protest against a government proposal to create a new Telangana state.
Like the Congress and Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP), there is a divide within the PRP over the bifurcation of Andhra. MLAS from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema are opposed to the move; Telangana representatives support it.