Rift in BC Front over Chiranjeevi

The reports that Megastar Chiranjeevi would lead the proposed Third Front of BCs, SCs and STs in the State created a sensation in the State politics, but within 24 hours, they turned out to be a mere hoax, as the leaders were seriously divided over his entry into the Front.

In fact, the news was leaked by a section of BC leaders who participated in the Front meeting. The meeting indeed discussed the proposal to invite Chiranjeevi into the mainstream politics to lead the Front, since it would gain tremendous support from the people of all sections. However, a section of SC leaders strongly opposed the proposal on the ground that if Chiranjeevi takes the lead, the Front would get an entirely different image, since he is considered to be above the caste and moreover, he would not be interested in confining himself to one particular caste.

Secondly, if Chiranjeevi takes the hot seat, all others – whether it may be Manda Krishna Madiga of MRPS or R Krishnaiah of BC Welfare Association – would be nowhere in the picture and it would be entirely a Chiranjeevi show. All others would lose their identity and would have to play a second fiddle. So, there is no point in consolidating all the backward and scheduled castes and hand over the authority to Chiranjeevi on a platter. "Let us prove our own identity and not allow others to hog the limelight," was one argument in the new Front, sources say.