About Chiranjeevi’s impact on politics

What the Telugu papers say...
It has been an eventful fortnight for the language media in Andhra Pradesh, starting from New Year's eve. Both chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and opposition leader and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu played Santa Claus on New Year's eve by hosting sick children and orphans in the state capital.

While the chief minister spent his first morning of the year with ailing children of the Nilofuer hospital, presenting them fruits and biscuits, his counterpart Chandrababu Naidu went visiting orphanages with gifts of blankets.

The prospects of Tollywood star Chiranjeevi's entry into Andhra politics is a much hotly debated issue in the language media, with TV channels and tabloids joining the rat race to assess its impact on state politics.

Popular Telugu dailies Andhra Jyoti and Eenadu led the pack by playing up the impending development. Some are predicting an exodus from TDP and Congress, apart from a threat to the Left parties as well.

But the actor is playing it cool and has appointed a PR agency and a special security team to ward off run-of-the-mill political leaders and keep him away from repeated embarrassments. He also avoided BSP leader Mayawati's overtures to share a platform with her. Some newspapers have gone to the extent of reporting Chiranjeevi's day-to-day activities.

The prospects of second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) to resolve the contentious Telengana issue has also received lot of attention.

The repercussions of the SRC are more within the party as senior Congress leaders, including ministers in the UPA government like Jaipal Reddy, express dissent.

The Telengana Rastra Samiti (TRS) has come out openly against the SRC, calling for a state wide agitation. All TRS MPs (only one) and MLAs (25) plan to resign the moment the SRC is officially declared.