After Chiranjeevi, another Telugu film star Nandamuri Balakrishna is all set to make his political debut soon.
The son of Telugu Desam Party founder-president and legendary actor N T Rama Rao, Balakrishna will plunge into active politics on October 24 with the Yuva Garjana being organised by the TDP.
Upcoming Telugu film stars from the Nandamuri clan and nephews of Balakrishna-Kalyan Ram, Tarakaratna and NTR (Junior)-will also be using the same platform to make their political debuts as well.
Balakrishna is the brother-in-law of current TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. His daugther Brahmani is married to Naidu's son Lokesh.
Balakrishna used to actively campaign for TDP when his father held the reigns but stayed away from politics after Naidu took over.
In fact, N T Rama Rao had declared Balakrishna as his heir not only in films but also in politics. The rise of Chandrababu Naidu in a coup, however, left NTR's dream shattered.
The coup against N T Rama Rao in 1995 had distanced Naidu from other members of the NTR family for many years.
In 2007, however, the family ties were restored after Balakrishna got his daughter Brahmani married to Lokesh.
For about 10 months now, TDP has been sparing no effort to rope Balakrishna into the party in the wake of Chiranjeevi's political plans.
Balakrishna, who began his acting career as a teenager under the direction of his father, acted in about 80 Telugu films so far and has a strong fan following across Andhra Pradesh.
The Telugu Desam Party strongly believes Balakrishna and his nephews can effectively counter the Chiranjeevi impact and help the party realise its objective of returning to power.
Hence, the rank and file of TDP exerted pressure on Chandrababu Naidu to rope in Balakrishna and the three young heroes.
Obliging them, Naidu held a series of interactions with Balakrishna, Kalyan Ram, Tarakaratna and NTR Jr and prevailed upon them to work for the party.
Naidu's other brother-in-law and Balakrishna's elder brother Harikrishna played a key role in enlisting the services of the Nandamuri heroes for the party. Incidentally, Harikrishna, now a member of Rajya Sabha, also acted in a few films in lead roles and Kalyan Ram and NTR Jr are his sons.
NTR Jr had campaigned on behalf of TDP candidate Kodali Srivenkateswara Rao in Gudivada in Krishna district in the 2004 elections.
Kalyan Ram and Tarakaratna too are yet to make a mark as heroes but their family lineage has helped them stay in the limelight.
The TDP, however, is clearly banking on them to brighten its political fortunes.
