Maya scoffs at ties with Chiranjeevi

Change in stance after talks between the actor and BSP leaders failed

HYDERABAD: Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Sunday categorically ruled out any alliance with actor Chiranjeevi.

“Film stars are good for dancing around trees and performing stunts in films. They can never become good social workers,” she told a public meeting at Nizam College in Hyderabad. The comment, at the fag end of her 45-minute speech, came in the wake of failed talks with the matinee idol and her party lieutenants from Delhi over the past three weeks.

There were rumours that the actor would attend the rally, but sources at Chiranjeevi’s house said he had no such plans. Even the actor’s brother, Pavan Kalyan, whose entry into BSP was a certainty, did not attend the meeting.
 
However, Mayawati did not disappoint the crowd that had gathered to hear. She announced her support for the formation of a separate Telengana. Blaming the UPA government and the BJP for promoting Naxalite activities and cross-border terrorism, Mayawati said poor development in the state was forcing the people to join the Maoists. She ridiculed media reports that the BSP was anti-upper castes and said she would not have made Satish Mishra a cabinet member if she was so.

Mayawati landed in Hyderabad on Saturday evening and met political leaders of various hues to elicit their opinion on the political situation in the state. She apparently was looking forward to a meeting with Chiranjeevi, but that did not materialise. Former TRS minister Ale Narendra called on her and announced the merger of his Telengana Sadhana Samiti (TSS) with the BSP.

But technically Narendra is not yet a member of the BSP in view of the anti-defection law. He was the only prominent state politician at the public meeting.