Mohammed Siddique/Rediff
Hyderabad, Aug 29: After running into trouble with the Election Commission, Telugu mega star Chiranjeevi's party has more problems to contend with, this time with its name Praja Rajyam.
Chiranjeevi's aides, who approached the EC to register the party's name, were shocked when they were told that another person has already applied for the same name before them.
Chenna Krishnaiah, an advocate from Kadapa district, has also applied to the Election Commission to register the name Praja Rajyam.
"The name has not been registered so far," EC sources said, adding that the advocate from Kadapah was the first person to apply for the name. But the advocate's application was submitted on a plain paper while Chiranjeevi's application was on a proper form.
Dr P Mitra, the official spokesperson of Chiranjeevi's party, said that he was confident that Praja Rajyam will be registered in Chiranjeevi's name.
"We have taken all the precautions, met all the technical and legal requirements in accordance with the rules", he said.
The name Praja Rajyam was unveiled by the star with great fanfare, before a mammoth gathering of over half a million people, on Tuesday in Tirupati.
Chiranjeevi on Thursday also announced the appointment of two official spokespersons for his party. He presented his close aide and confidante Dr P Mitra and former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prakala Prabhakar as the two official spokespersons at a press conference.
Prakala Prabhakar, who had distanced himself from the BJP since the last elections, had been appearing as an anchor of political programmes on local television channels. His joining Praja Rajyam has come as a big surprise to many.
Speaking on the occasion, Chiranjeevi said that the name and the flag of the party were decided in accordance with the response and ideas from the people. "With the idea of bringing respect to the politics, we have also given a sub title of 'Service is the aim, love is the path' to the party's name.
Chiranjeevi said he would announce details about the party executive soon. But keeping his promise to give top priority to farmers' problems, Chiranjeevi said that he has set up a committee headed by renowned agricultural expert Y Shivaji to look in to the problems of the agricultural sector and suggest measures to solve them. Incidentally, Y Shivaji was earlier a senior leader of the Telugu Desam Party.
Chiranjeevi denied reports about meeting Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu [Images]. "I have not met him but I am definitely going to meet him. Not only Chandrababu, all other leaders are my friends. I am going to meet even those leaders who are not my friends," he said.
Soon after his appointment as official spokesperson, P Mitra said that that the people are going to teach politics to Chiranjeevi. "If we have good policies and if people are convinced that we are serious in our commitment to work towards their welfare and in their interest, people will accept our party and guide us", he said.
When asked why Chiranjeevi, known for his action star image, was taking it slow in politics, he said, "The game is different and the rules are different. We have to play every game according to its rules".
Speaking on Chiranjeevi's chances of repeating actor-turned-politicians N T Rama Rao's magic, Mitra said, "No, we are going to make new history.