VIJAYAWADA: Even as Union Minister G Kishan Reddy maintained that politics was not discussed between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Tollywood star Jr NTR during their meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday night, Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani), former minister and a close friend of Jr NTR, opined that the BJP might have plans to utilise the image of the tinsel star to campaign in support of the party at the national level.
“Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not meet anyone without a political reason,” remarked Nani, who produced a couple of Telugu films, including Jr NTR starrer ‘Adhurs’ and ‘Samba’.While the meeting between Amit Shah and Jr NTR lasted for 45 minutes, the duo had a one-on-one meeting for nearly 20 minutes. Though the BJP was silent on what transpired in the one-on-one meeting between the two, there is a speculation that politics came for discussion.
Officially, the BJP went on saying that Amit Shah, who recently watched RRR movie, liked the performance of Jr NTR and wanted to meet him during his visit to Hyderabad. Joining the debate on the issue, Nani said, “Amit Shah and Narendra Modi are going ahead with their plans to expand the party in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The meeting with Jr NTR might be part of their plans.’’
The close pal of Jr NTR said the Tollywood actor has now become a pan-India star and the BJP may use him to campaign across the country. “I don’t believe that Amit Shah met Jr NTR to congratulate him for the success of a movie and applaud his performance. The meeting certainly has political significance,’’ he maintained.
Nani also took a dig at TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on the occasion. “Amit Shah and Narendra Modi have now started to think that Naidu is of no relevance. Hence, they did not even give him appointment,’’ Nani observed.