Nadendla Manohar hints at Chiranjeevi's future 'role' in politics

MUMBAI: Janasena leader and Pawan Kalyan's aide Nadendla Manohar hinted at Chiranjeevi's future 'role' in politics at a recent internal party meeting, whose video was telecast by a local news channel on Wednesday.

Manohar broached the matter in what appeared to be an explanation to Janasena supporters in a closed doors meeting as to why Kalyan returned to acting.

He claimed that Kalyan quit acting in movies for the sake of politics.

"For the sake of politics, he left movies also. Now as we are a little free, as part of several steps we took, we should tell that movies are also needed. I have to tell this as it is an internal meeting," Manohar said in the video which appeared to have been recorded by one of the attendees of that internal meeting.

According to the former Assembly Speaker of united Andhra Pradesh, Kalyan's brother Chiranjeevi and founder of another political party, Prajarajyam, had encouraged the Janasena party founder to act for another one or two more years before plunging into politics completely.

"Once I, Kalyan and Chiranjeevi sat together and talked. Chiranjeevi said that time should be allocated for movies for one or two years. After that you do politics completely. In your political journey, I will definitely be with you," said Manohar.

At the mention of Chiranjeevi's 'support', the attendants detonated into a loud roar of applause and approval.

Kalyan founded Janasena just before the general elections in 2014 in which he refrained from contesting but extended full support to N. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP), whom he vociferously opposed as the head of Yuvarajyan, youth wing of Chiranjeevi's Prajarajyam in the run up to 2009 election.

However, Chiranjeevi's political ambitions could not penetrate the Congress fortress led by Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

After Chiranjeevi merged Prajarajyam in Congress party in 2012 and went on to enjoy a central government ministerial berth in UPA - II, Kalyan was inactive politically but surfaced again in 2014 with his own party.

Janasena contested the 2019 general elections without the involvement of Chiranjeevi but doled out an MP seat to his other brother Nagendra Babu, a comedy show judge and another Tollywood actor.

Kalyan, who contested in Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram, Babu and all others in his partly lost out in the 2019 polls, except Rapaka Varaprasad, current Razole MLA, whose loyalty the actor-politician failed to retain.

Chiranjeevi has already been inactive in politics for several years but Manohar's revelations may rekindle some hopes of the legendary actor's re-entry into politics in his fans and supporters.