IANS

Hyderabad, Aug 20: A year after Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi entered Andhra Pradesh politics, his Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) has plunged into crisis with a section of legislators suggesting that he merge the party with the ruling Congress.

Barely three months after their election to state legislative assembly, five of the 18 PRP legislators want Chiranjeevi to merge the party with the Congress.

The group discussed their proposal with Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law and party general secretary Allu Aravind Wednesday night. The meeting continued till the early hours of Thursday and Aravind reportedly sought a month's time to respond to their proposal.

Chiranjeevi, who had launched the PRP amid much fanfare in August last year, went into a huddle with party legislators Thursday morning.

PRP leaders said that while some legislators may want to join the Congress or the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the PRP was here to stay under the leadership of Chiranjeevi.

"There is no truth in the report. One or two MLAs may want to join the Congress or the TDP, but the party is not depending on them," said PRP spokesperson Vasireddy Padma. She termed the speculation a conspiracy against the party.

"PRP is here to stay under the leadership of Mr Chiranjeevi. He is determined to strengthen the party from the grassroots level on the slogan of social justice," legislator K. Kanna Babu told IANS.

"Our leader has already made it clear that those who want to leave the party may do so but the party is here to stay," said Kanna Babu, also a close aide of the actor.

Though the party suffered a setback, winning only 18 seats in the 294-member assembly and drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha polls, it polled 17 percent or seven million votes, he said.

Interestingly, Chiranjeevi had told reporters only a day ago that all legislators were with him.

"Vested interests are working overtime to ensure that the party disintegrates at the earliest to prevent it from asserting itself as a strong opposition party," he said.