STARS TAKE POLL POSITION
With seasoned star Dr Rajasekhar joining YSRCP party on Monday along with his wife Jeevitha, it seems that T-town stars are making a beeline to one particular party.
Rajasekhar told reporters that they met Jagan after a long time and all the bitterness between them was over.
The couple appealed to people of Andhra Pradesh to give a chance to Jagan to serve them. No doubt, T-town winds are blowing in favour of one party, while Telugu Desam Party was unable to attract film fraternity.
"TDP doesn't need to do it," says producer C N Rao and adds, "Now-a-days, voters are not star-struck and are voting for development," he adds.
Earlier, Mohan Babu, Jayasudha, star comedian Ali and Prudhvi Raj, Raja Ravindra, 'Vinayakudu' fame Krishnudu, Jogi Naidu joined to boost the chances of YSRCP with their campaign.
"Star charisma is a just a myth. For instance, Jr NTR drew unprecedented crowds in Srikakulam during 2009 election campaign but could win only one seat for TDP out of 10 seats.
Megastar Chiranjeevi who was one of the most popular stars could manage to get just 18 seats for his party in 2009," says producer Radha Rajeshwari.
"When big stars are unable to turn the tide, what can actors who are at the fag-end of their careers can do now," she adds. Right now, Balakrishna is doing his bit to shore up the chances of TDP, while YSRCP has more comedians in its kitty.
"Comedians have never been star campaigners, apart from adding some fun during heated campaign.
And also these actors were not given tickets, it means their charisma will be exploited only to attract more eyeballs," says producer N Padmini and adds that AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has worked with some these actors in the past and knows in and out of them.
"Few of them have been turncoats and jumped from one party to another looking for greener pastures, losing credibility," reasons C N Rao.
"Barring a few, actually, most the superstars of T-wood have stayed away from political arena this time around,"
concludes Rao.