Congress may make Chiru a special invitee to CWC

HYDERABAD: Now that the central cabinet reshuffle is over, the Praja Rajyam is eagerly waiting for the Congress to redeem its promise of providing a respectable position to its president Chiranjeevi in the Congress. In all likelihood, he might be made an invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at the national level and be given membership of the party’s coordination committee that is proposed to be constituted at the state level to act as a bridge between the government and the party.According to sources, the Telangana agitation has been playing spoilsport with the PRP. This and several other proposals like induction of PRP MLAs into the state cabinet have been hanging fire for quite some time. “In politics, sometimes, things happen too fast or take too long. We have to live with the reality,” a senior leader of the PRP said but, at the same time, felt that the Congress would keep all its promises before long.The PRP leader said that the party had declined the offer of Rajya Sabha membership to Chiranjeevi from Maharashtra to facilitate his inclusion in the central cabinet as he preferred nomination to the Upper house from Andhra Pradesh. Since there were no vacancies in Rajya Sabha seats from the state and as elections are due only next year, the PRP has decided to wait. “Non-induction of Chiranjeevi into the Manmohan Singh cabinet has come as no surprise to us since we have known it from the beginning,” he said.PRP leaders have urged the Congress national leadership to utilise the services of Chiranjeevi in the interregnum by offering him a respectable position in the party. “When we sought the post of special invitee to the CWC, Azad readily agreed. This apart, we sought  membership for Chiranjeevi of the coordination committee at the state level. As for others in the party, the deal was that at least two PRP MLAs should be accommodated in the state cabinet and another be nominated as the government chief whip. Azad agreed to all the proposals,” the leader said.The PRP also placed for proposals seeking appointment of its men  as chairmen or directors of state public sector undertakings. “As the party is strong in  Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari, we wanted our leaders from there nominated to these positions. Even for this, the party leadership said “no problem.”  It is only a matter of time,” the senior leader said.