| Praja Rajyam Party | |
| Founder: | Chiranjeevi |
| Colours: | Green |
| Merged: | Indian National Congress |
| Student Wing: | PRPS Vidyarthi |
| Youth Wing: | PRPS Yuva |
| Womens Wing: | PRPS Mahila |
| Wing1 Title: | Peasants wing |
| Wing1: | PRP Raithu |
| Wing2 Title: | Labour wing |
| Wing2: | PRP Karmika |
| Country: | India |
| Flag: | PrajaRajyamPartyFlag.png |
| Symbol: | (2008–2009) (2009–2011) |
The Praja Rajyam Party was a political party in India.
The first public meeting of the party was held by Chiranjeevi on 26 August 2008, at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.[1] Praja Rajyam means people's rule in Telugu.[2] He addressed a gathering of about a million people and announced the party name and its agenda. The party flag, which has the color white, made up 3/4 of the height at the top, and the bottom 1/4 filled with green, was unveiled at the meeting. In the middle of the flag, a red-coloured sun symbol was encircled with a yellow line. In the 2009 elections, the party contested using a train as its symbol for both the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh assembly election. After the election, he decided against using a train as a symbol and instead applied for a rising sun symbol.
The green colour is an "acknowledgement to the farmers", red symbolises "change and revolution", the yellow border around the sun symbolises "happiness in every home", white symbolises "clean governance and transparency", and the sun in the middle emphasises the need for change and revolution.[3]
The Nava Telangana Praja Party headed by former minister Tulla Devender Goud was merged with the Praja Rajyam Party. NTPP was a political entity campaigning for Telangana State formation, and had a strong base in the Telangana Region of Andhra Pradesh. Post-merger, Goud was made the Vice-President of Praja Rajyam Party.[4]
Chiranjeevi at one time expressed his support for the efforts to forge a "Fourth Front" at the national level.
| Party leader | Seats won | Change in seats | Percentage of votes | Popular vote | Outcome | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Chiranjeevi | new | 16.32% | 6,863,509 | https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4054-andhra-pradesh-2009/https://hindi.eci.gov.in/files/file/4054-%E0%A4%86%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6-2009/?do=download&r=9612&confirm=1&t=1&csrfKey=1c0cf1b1a9369e623181ae5857c6efd6 |
They won only 18 out of a possible 294 assembly seats. The party leader, Chiranjeevi contested in two assembly seats - Tirupathi and Palakollu (West Godavari District) - and won only in Tirupathi. It polled 18% votes.
| S.No | Constituency | Elected MLA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nirmal | Alleti Maheshwar Reddy | |
| 2. | Balkonda | Anil Kumar Eravathri | |
| 3. | Bheemili | Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao | |
| 4. | Gajuwaka | Chinthalapudi Venkataramaiah | |
| 5. | Anakapalle | Ganta Srinivasa Rao | |
| 6. | Pendurthi | Panchakarla Ramesh Babu | |
| 7. | Pithapuram | Vanga Geetha | |
| 8. | Kakinada Rural | Kurasala Kannababu | |
| 9. | Peddapuram | Pantam Gandhi Mohan | |
| 10. | Kothapeta | Bandaru Satyananda Rao | |
| 11. | Tadepalligudem | Eli Venkata Madhusudhanarao | |
| 12. | Vijayawada West | Velampalli Srinivasa Rao | |
| 13. | Vijayawada East | Yalamanchili Ravi | |
| 14. | Giddalur | Anna Venkat Rambabu | |
| 15. | Nellore City | Mungamuru Sridhara Krishna Reddy | |
| 16. | Allagadda | Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy | |
| 17. | Banaganapalle | Katasani Rami Reddy | |
| 18. | Tirupati | Konidela Chiranjeevi |
On 6 February 2011, PRP chief Chiranjeevi announced that his party would be merged with the Indian National Congress party after a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The merger was proposed by A.K. Antony, Minister of Defence.[7] He stated that he had originally been compelled to create the PRP on a platform of fighting corruption and ensuring social justice but that Congress now had a good record of fighting corruption elsewhere.[8]
It was asserted by political observers that Chiranjeevi's move may have been prompted by his loss of support in the wake of his own strong anti-Telangana stance in previous months.[9] It was argued in the press that Chiranjeevi's move would particularly strengthen Congress's hand in retaining the Kapu vote, as the PRP had done particularly well among them.[10]