Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Aug 12: There have been rumours since several days that Sandalwood star Upendra, who has lot of fan following, is entering politics. Upendra, who had kept his move in the wraps so far, said on Friday August 11 that he would be making an honest effort to see that people are able to exercise their rights in a democratic set up. In an audio clip he sent to media houses and also uploaded in Facebook, Upendra appeared cynical about the attitude of people's representatives, whom he prefers to address as 'servants of the people', and the tendency to splurge taxes collected from people.

While some have speculated that the celebrated actor will float a new party, many others insist that he would be joining a political party that is already present.

BJP sources said they have already invited Upendra into their party but the actor has not given any commitment or opened up his mind. Upendra has said that his party does not believe in organizing rallies, campaigns, hanging of banners etc but will have 'Satyameva Jayate' as its tag line. He is heard telling in the audio that currently, not Rajakeeya (politics) but Prajakeeya (rule of people) is needed. He insists that people should be put through a test before they get tickets to fight election. He wants that the candidates fighting the election should be agreeable to work from 9 am to 6 pm everyday for the masses. He is keen on addressing issues like river water disputes, farmer suicides, etc and thinks that the citizens in general have to own responsibility for the current situation because of the fact that they did not assert their rights so far.

Meanwhile, it is being claimed that Upendra is a fan of Narendra Modi and wants to do a movie on him. Therefore there are people who believe that Upendra might join the saffron party during the current visit of its national president, Amit Shah, to the state. Upendra, who was an activist of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during his student days, happens to be one of the invitees for the 'convention of intellectuals' in which about 400 eminent personalities have been invited to interact with Amit Shah. The programme is being held in a hotel here on Saturday evening.