Amar Singh, Jayaprada call on Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad, Sep 7 (IANS) Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and party MPs Jayaprada and Jaya Bachchan Sunday called on Telugu superstar-turned-politician Chiranjeevi to greet him on his entry into politics but said the question of an electoral alliance was not discussed.

"Chiranjeevi is like a family member to us and we have come here to greet him as personal friends and not as politicians," Amar Singh told the media after half-an-hour-long meeting with the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president.

Amar Singh, however, did not rule out the possibility of an electoral alliance between his party and the PRP in Andhra Pradesh.

"Chiranjeevi is a good person and if good people don't come into politics it will remain dirty. He is a member of our fraternity and we felt very happy when he decided to enter politics with the inspiration from Mother Teresa and (former president A.P.J.) Abdul Kalam. Politics is not easy as one has to be prepared to face allegations and criticism," he said.

He, however, said there was no contradiction between Samajwadi Party's alliance with the Congress and his meeting Chiranjeevi.

"I am not a member of the Congress party and the talks of alliance between the Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh do not cover the entire country. The talks are still on and it is not certain whether the alliance with the Congress will materialize or not," he said.

He said even if the Samajwadi Party's ties with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had continued, he would have come and met Chiranjeevi as a friend. "Friendship and politics are two different things," he said.

"Jaya Bachchanji came as Chiranjeevi is a very good and close friend of Amitabh Bachchan. If Amitabhji was not out of the country he would also have come to greet Chiranjeevi. Abhishek and Aishwarya would have also accompanied him," Amar Singh said.

On Jayaprada, Amar Singh said that she had acted in many films opposite Chiranjeevi and as a member of film industry it was natural for her to come and greet Chiranjeevi.

The meeting assumed significance in view of reports that Jayaprada was planning to contest from Andhra Pradesh as the Congress party wants Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) Lok Sabha seat, which she currently represents. "I will answer this at an appropriate time," the actress-turned-politician said when asked whether she was looking for a constituency in the southern state.

PRP spokesman P. Prabhakar told reporters it was a courtesy call and no politics was discussed during the meeting.