Recent mega rally in Tirupati by Chiranjeevi’s newly found party ‘Praja Rajyam’ was attended by lakhs of enthusiastic supporters, most of whom are in their early twenties.

While the Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekar Reddy sees no challenge in this and is making bold claims of winning 230 seats in the Assembly Elections in 2009, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi’s reported enquiries about the rally and its response indicate that the young leader sees a major challenge from the new political outfit.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which finds nothing new in what Chiranjeevi has to offer, is however preparing for meeting the youth challenge of Chiranjeevi with competing efforts.

How important is this segment of young voters and how do they tend to vote? As the state goes to polls next year, these questions have acquired much significance.

Today, young voters in the age group 18 to 30 years constitute nearly 40% of Andhra Pradesh voting population. They have emerged as a decisive factor in elections and are causing many electoral upsets.

If the recent elections in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka have delivered unexpectedly favourable verdicts in favour of parties that promised better governance, it is thanks to the emerging youth factor in Indian politics.

Voting age in India was reduced to 18 years from 21 years in 1988 by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Given his youthful appeal, Rajiv Gandhi perhaps calculated that this step would boost the Congress party’s prospects under his leadership.

The decision to lower the voting age proved costly for the Congress, as the party’s decline in national politics coincided with that decision. Sonia Gandhi accepted as much when she told an AICC convention, “We have slipped perilously in the esteem of the young voter. As the average Indian voter gets younger and more educated, it is our Party which has suffered reverses.”

Electoral volatility and the extent of negative vote swings have increased ever since the voting age has been reduced to 18 years.

Young voters are less loyal in their voting patterns, compared to older adults. Young voters support parties and leaders who deliver results and promise a better life.

Evidently, Chiranjeevi, who is popular among the youth for his mega star status, is trying to tap into this segment by promising change for the better.

Young voters break the traditional caste and community barriers to vote for candidates, leaders and parties that promise a better life. Therefore, the next election may see many young voters defying the traditional caste based loyalties.

For example, I reckon that a sizeable chunk of young Dalit voters may go along with Chiranjeevi’s party thus hurting the Congress, which is their favourite party otherwise.

Young voters are fiercely patriotic and have a strong emotional quotient. Issues like nationalism and regional pride appeal to them much more strongly than they do for older adults.

It is the youth power and their raw energy that parties like the Telengana Rastra Samiti (TRS) have harnessed to build a strong agitation for the separate statehood for Telengana.

In the southern states, cinema pervades the lives of the youth and has a huge influence on them. Particularly, students and the unemployed youth have fierce ‘star’ loyalties and are willing to do anything to ensure the success of their stars.

These days, political parties are compelled to pay to make their cadres work for them and even crowds are rented to put up big shows. In such a scenario, these fans come handy as they work without a consideration.

While Chiranjeevi appeals to the youth on the strength of his screen image, the key question is whether the screen appeal and popularity will translate into political support? The answer is a clear yes as this has been the case with the southern states in the past where matinee idols have made a seamless transformation to political stardom.

As Chiranjeevi appeals to his fans for political support, will the rival Telugu Desam and the Congress not make similar efforts to secure the votes of the youth on the basis of their screen loyalties? The TDP and the Congress are already gearing up to mount their glamour challenge by unleashing their star power.

The TDP is planning to launch actors Balakrishna, Hari Krishna and Junior NTR on the political stage to garner support among the youth. The Congress, notwithstanding the chief minister’s bravado, is likely to use the star power of Krishna-Mahesh Babu and Rajsekhar-Jeevita to counter the rivals’ challenge. As the leaders from the NTR clan and Mahesh Babu are hugely popular with the audience, the state is likely to witness ‘star wars’ in the months ahead.

As parties vie for the support of young voters, on the strength of the appeal of their screen icons, it appears that the Telugu cinema will be played on the streets with their enthusiastic supporters cheering them for their success in the political theatre.

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AN OPEN LETTER TO CHIRANJEEVI

SIX TIPS FOR CHIRANJEEVI TO RUN A BETTER CAMPAIGN

While the huge turnout at the rally has visibly overwhelmed you, in my assessment, it failed to make the desired political impact. And, I am saying this based on the experience of many a political campaign in the last two decades.

You may be aware that after your Press Meet announcing the launch of your party on August 16, I wrote in Eenadu dated August 17 that you were not just charming, but focused as well. In contrast, judging from the response of the huge public that gathered in Tirupati yesterday to witness the birth of your party, the crowd response was not enthusiastic enough. Evidently, it appears to me that, not withstanding your iconic status, you need to work on public speaking skills.

Here is a list of omissions which diluted the impact of your speech and a few tips to make your future appearances more successful.

Suggestion 1: Given your new political avatar, aggression is necessary for desired impact. You should never be seen to be defensive. You appeared defensive attempting to answer your critics who questioned your film background and your apparent lack of knowledge of people’s problems.

Thus, you devoted a large part of your speech sharing your early life experiences as a commoner and the travails that you went through. This was completely unnecessary and was a tactical mistake. You have sent out a message to your rivals (although you may claim you have none) that you can be provoked into answering any criticism directed against you. People may be unaware of your real life tribulations and humble origins but what is important is that as a people’s hero, they believe that you are sensitive to their concerns.

Suggestion 2: The political agenda of a party must be borne out of a leader’s strong convictions and the agenda should flow straight from the leader’s heart. As you chose to read from a written text a crucial part of your speech concerning political philosophy of your newly found party, your convictions failed to come through. Although completely unintended, you made it look like you were personally not involved in conceptualizing and articulating these concerns.

Suggestion 3: You must be congratulated for articulating the common man’s concerns of price rise and corruption. You have even criticized governmental policies on special economic zones and land acquisition. But, in the same breath, you chose to mention dozens of other issues as well. You virtually read out the entire manifesto of your party. Do not focus on too many issues. If you raise too many issues, let me assure you that nothing sticks in public mind. Identify salient issues of concern—like price rise and corruption for instance—and focus on them to make a good impact.

Suggestion 4: Don’t try to please all sections by offering everything. If you promise too much, people will think that you lack priorities. People are rational and have only limited expectations. Understand what their priorities are and articulate them as your agenda.

Suggestion 5: Make your speeches more interactive. More than the size of a crowd, it is the crowd response that is a true measure of the success of a campaign. Only towards the latter part of your speeches, you involved the audiences in your speech. Delivering speeches bereft of audience involvement are boring and do not make the desired impact.

Suggestion 6: Do not make your supporters endure a long wait. While hours of wait they endure is a measure of your popularity, it takes the energy out of them.

This was your first public appearance in a political avatar. As you set out to launch a statewide campaign, hope you find some of my tips--based on my personal experiences of witnessing many a successful campaign--useful.

(Send Comments to politicsparty@gmail.com OR SMS to 9958976000)