Megastar Chiranjeevi cast his vote for the Lok Sabha elections in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, on Thursday morning but declined to urge people to vote for Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party or Congress.
Chiranjeevi is an actor-turned-politician and had floated his own political outfit called Praja Rajyam Party. It had merged with Congress after three years. He went on to become a Rajya Sabha member on April 2012 and was sworn in as the Union Minister of State, Ministry of Tourism, in October 2012. Congress lost its popularity after the bifurcation of the united Andhra Pradesh.
Chiranjeevi refrained from contesting elections and did not campaign wholeheartedly for Congress. He was upset with the one-sided decision to split Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, his youngest brother Pawan Kalyan launched the Jana Sena Party and campaigned vigorously against Congress. He helped TDP and BJP come to power both in state and centre.
Post these developments, Chiranjeevi stayed away from politics, went back to his acting career and delivered a blockbuster film like Khaidi No 150. He is currently busy with the shooting of his next outing Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, the release of which has been postponed due to the delay in its production.
Chiranjeevi is campaigning neither for Congress nor his brother Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party. Hence, he is facing a lot of wrath and criticism from the members of both the political parties. He recently faced an awkward situation after some mega fans forced to cheer for Jana Sena at a recent function. Post this incident, the megastar also stopped making an appearance and he has stayed away from speaking to media.
Both the Telugu states are up for voting for the general election. Chiranjeevi visited polling both in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad this morning to cast his vote. He was accompanied by his family members like Ram Charan, Surekha, Sushmita and Upsana. When he was coming out of polling booth, he was mobbed by the media, who asked him about which party he suggests his fans to cast their votes for.
But Chiranjeevi declined to name a party and advised his fans to elect a responsible person. He said, "I don't speak and I have nothing to share with you. I request everyone to use your right to support a responsible person. You cast your vote to the person who you think will work for the betterment of the society. I feel electing responsible candidate will help build a good society as well as country."
