Krishnam replaces Ramalinga as Raju clan's new icon

27 Mar 2009, ET Bureau

HYDERABAD: Actor-turned politician Chiranjeevi pulled a coup of sorts by roping in his elder peer U V Krishnam Raju into his newly-formed Praja
Rajyam Party. Krishnam Raju, a la Manoj Kumar of the Telugu film world, was the minister of state for external affairs in the NDA government led by A B Vajpayee between 1999 and 2004. But many were surprised when he snapped his decade-old ties with BJP to join PRP this week.

Both Raju and Chiranjeevi hail from Mogaltur, a district in West Godavari, something that could perhaps explain their bonding. Skeptics say this could be short-lived, given the ideological differences between the two actors.

Krishnam Raju belongs to the Raju clan, which is concentrated in coastal Andhra, mainly Bhimavaram (West Godavari). The community, comprising about 5% of the state’s population, is economically empowered by virtue of being land owners. They are also a close-knit community.

Chiranjeevi, on the other hand, belongs to the Kapu clan, dominated by peasants in the state. According to an analyst, the Raju clan was looking at aligning with Chiranjeevi, soon after he floated the PRP. The PRP camp is now dominated by the Raju community with more than 80% of the party workers belonging to this little known clan.

"Krishnam Raju has been wielded as one of the most important candidate to revive the lost glory of the Raju community, that was apparently dented after B Ramalinga Raju, the defamed founder of Satyam Computer Services, admitted to doctoring Satyam’s books," said a PRP spokesperson.

There are also reports that several members from the Raju community who were denied tickets in the grand alliance and Congress hopped over to PRP as tickets are up for grabs in the newly-formed party.

The Raju community has its share of woes against Congress and TDP, both rivals of PRP. During his hey-days, Ramalinga Raju had the best of equations with the former chief minister and TDP leader, N Chandrababu Naidu. The poster boy of IT revolution in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Naidu drew mileage showcasing Satyam, once ranked as the fourth largest software exporter in the country.

He was equally comfortable with the ruling Congress when it came to power in 2004. TDP has alleged that Congress had favoured firms promoted by the Raju family and the rest as they say is history. The Raju clan is unhappy with both Congress and TDP and now see PRP as their new protector,” said an analyst.