Date:30/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123059530400.htm

New Delhi

Chiru seeks common symbol for PR

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi met Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswamy here on Monday and sought a common election symbol for his party, registered as a State party, in all the constituencies it proposes to contest.

He claimed that late actor-politician N.T. Rama Rao was given such a common symbol (cycle) after he presented a petition to the Commission in person though his party was only a registered party then. So was the case of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (car).

Issue of identity

The common symbol would help identity Praja Rajyam during elections as against free symbols, which differ in every constituency, creating confusion among the voters, he told the Commission. He was accompanied senior party man and former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar.

Meanwhile, Election Commission sources said that Mr. Chiranjeevi had been informed that the Commission would examine his request and the final decision would be conveyed in a few days.

Mr. Chiranjeevi, who visited Delhi for the first time after he launched his party, told mediapersons that his party would be open for alliance only with secular parties, though no final decision has yet been taken on this issue. He ruled out the possibility of tying up with the BJP before elections.

Optimistic

What would he do if two different combinations of parties won polls in Andhra Pradesh ? To this, he said, he would go according to the interests of the State. He was confident that the PR would win not less than 225 out of 294 Assembly seats in A.P.