Chiranjeevi all set to launch his party at Tirupati

Hyderabad, Aug 6 (IANS) Popular Telugu film star Chiranjeevi is all set to take a plunge into Andhra Pradesh politics and launch his own party from the temple town of Tirupati this month.

The mega star is likely to address a public meeting in the temple town Aug 22, his birthday, to announce his political party and its agenda.

The actor has selected Tirupati as the platform to launch his political career because of his attachment to the place, famous for the Lord Venkateshwara temple.

Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law and advisor Allu Arvind Wednesday visited Tirupati as part of the preparations for the public meeting. He visited a few grounds in the town to select the venue for the meeting but declined to comment.

The meeting is likely to be attended by thousands of people from various parts of the state and abroad.

The actor, who has a massive fan following, recently told media that he would announce his party in August. After the meeting, he will embark on a state-wide yatra or tour to prepare ground for the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in March next year.

The actor's brother K. Nagendra Babu, brother-in-law Allu Arvind and some close aides have been holding meetings of various sections of people for the last few weeks, as part of preparations for the new party's launch.

Sources close to Chiranjeevi said he would contest the elections from the Tirupati constituency. He will thus be following in the footsteps of thespian and Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) late founder N.T. Rama Rao, who considered the temple town auspicious for his politics.

Chiranjeevi is looking to repeat NTR's feat, who created a record by coming to power within nine months of his founding the TDP. NTR also contested elections from Tirupati and launched every election campaign from that town.