This rule may not apply for Chiru since he already left films and became full-time politician. He needs to be accommodated in the cabinet. But if he is made CM or Deputy CM, other aspirants in Congress may not keep quiet. He has only 17 MLAs with him (whose loyalty he himself is not sure of).
So it is really difficult to predict fate of Chiru’s association with Congress. If he merges his party into Congress, he might not get a decent post in the cabinet. If he accepts a less significant post, his fans would be disappointed. If he supports Congress from outside, his fighting spirit gets compromised and PRP might end up as also-ran party.
Congress always plays hide and seek with its allies. Look what happened in Jharkhand. It asked Sibu Soren to vote for UPA on cut motion and when BJP withdrew support, it did not bail him out. He lost CMship. And in Bengal, it refused to have alliance with Mamata Banerjee by making fantastic claims. Ultimately Congress lost heavily but it harmed interests of its ally too. We have seen what happened to TRS in state. When they threatened to leave, YS asked sarcastically “So what?”
Whoever is advising Chiru must have known all these facts. Still they advised him to pursue this effortless path of political convenience instead of going alone and fighting its way up, like Vijayakanth.
Even in films, Chiru always went for beaten track by sticking to formula films. He feared off-beat films. “Rudra Veena” “Swayamkrushi” etc. are flashes in pan.
Amitabh Bachan, even while playing out and out commercial movies, kept another track open by acting in films of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. So when he was ageing, he could switch over to character and off-beat roles easily. But Chiru did not do so even though his stature in Telugu films is on par with Amitabh’s in Hindi films.
Chiru is great actor no doubt but because of his adherence to formula films he suffered badly. Rajanikanth also does formula films but they have strong story line. On the other hand, Chiru merely went by masala formula of two heroines, lungi dances, fights etc. and after sometime they stopped giving him neither fame nor returns. Of course even his flops were making some tidy sums but they were not much when compared against his earlier hits.
Chiru is versatile actor. But he never attempted to direct a film like NTR. He relied on his team to pick up roles for him. So his team has to be blamed for his pre-mature retirement from films. Such a gifted actor, who took Telugu film industry to dizzy heights, had to end his career on an unsatisfactory note! What a tragedy!
Even in politics, like in films, he always looked around for direction. Allu Aravind is reputed with directing his brother-in-law in politics. So he had to bear the brunt of allegations of ticket-selling etc. Chiru’s image did not suffer on that count.
But in the same breath, it has to be said that he looked like a helpless, lame king (like “Gummadi”) who is unable to control his ambitious brother-in-law (like “Rajanala”) This is not good for an energetic, macho-image Chiru. He built an empire from nowhere. He collected millions of fans who do not mind offering anything on his bidding.
With such a potential in him, if Chiru takes up some non-political, social activities like ‘Janmabhoomi’ (as I said earlier, digging canals, linking rivers etc.) he would rise from megastar to polestar. And in the process he can become a king himself or a kingmaker – whatever role he chooses.
For this, he has to take decision-making into his hands like a film director. If he chooses to remain an actor and goes along the hackneyed, beaten path, easy way-out (he is already rushing to alliances even before the party celebrated its second anniversary) methods of regular politics, I am afraid, like in films, he may have to retire from politics prematurely. (concluded)
MBS Prasad
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