Tollywood hero and women's cricket world record holder are part of BJP's plan to garner star power ahead of elections.
Nithiin Kumar Reddy to meet BJP General Secretary JP Nadda in Hyderabad. (ActorNithiin/Facebook)
That the BJP is keen on adding filmy glitz to its poll campaigns is a given.
As the Telugu film actor from Nizamabad Nithiin Kumar Reddy, who is popularly known as Nithiin, gets ready for a tete-a-tete with BJP national president JP Nadda at Novotel in Hyderabad on Saturday, 27 August, it is becoming amply clear that the party is counting on the stars to come down to earth to help it conquer Telangana.
Recently, BJP No. 2 and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a one-on-one dialogue with Jr NTR, which set the Musi on fire.
The speculation mill worked without respite, throwing up several theories on why Shah met him.
Jr NTR shot to national fame with his role in the multi-lingual blockbuster RRR.
The analysts believe that BJP wanted him to join its ranks or persuaded him to campaign for it in elections which will serve two purposes — weaning away TDP elements from Chandrababu Naidu as Jr NTR is NTR Sr’s grandson.
The second aim appears to be to use him to influence Andhra settlers, who happen to be TDP sympathisers, into supporting the BJP in about 25 to 30 Assembly segments in and around Hyderabad.
According to sources, Nithiin, who has a good fan following, might be of help to the party in Telangana as he is native to the state and belongs to the powerful Reddy community.
After his successful debut in 2002 with Jayam, starring opposite Sada, Nithiin, who hails from Nizamabad, has had a steady career in Tollywood.
Though it is not yet clear whether he would join the BJP or would campaign for it in elections, the very fact that Nadda is finding time to see him is indicative of the increasing interest the BJP has in film actors in Telangana.
The BJP already has Vijaya Shanthi, who was a popular actor in her time.
She was known then as Lady Amitabh for her “shero” image, and Ramulamma for her role in a movie with the same name set against a Naxalite background.
Though Vijaya Shanthi played an important role in the party in the past (1998-2005), she is not given much importance these days since she is always seen as a prodigal daughter.
She left the BJP, set up her own party, Talli Telangana (2005-2009), moved to the TRS (2009-2014), then strayed to the Congress (2014-2020), and finally came back to BJP.
Recently, in an interaction with media persons, she showed her impatience at the party for not utilising her services to the extent it should.
May it would, because it is election time now.
Meanwhile, Nadda, on Saturday afternoon, met former Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj in Hyderabad. This comes a few months after she announced her retirement from the game in June.
She is a native of Hyderabad and is hailed as the highest run-scorer in women’s one-day cricket.
.@BJP4India అధ్యక్షులు శ్రీ @JPNadda గారిని కలిసిన ప్రముఖ మహిళా క్రికెటర్ @M_Raj03 గారు#JPNaddaInOrugallu pic.twitter.com/2EgxnMhiDj
— BJP Telangana (@BJP4Telangana) August 27, 2022
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