Vijayashanti: Not for Bellary

Hyderabad, March 31: Telugu actor Vijayashanti may no longer be in the running for a Lok Sabha seat from Andhra Pradesh but she was involved in a dramatic movie-style dash to Bellary this morning.

The reason for rushing to Bellary in a special aircraft was the news that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was heading there by helicopter from Mumbai via Bangalore to file her nomination papers.

The BJP had thought of fielding the actor against Priyanka or Sonia Gandhi if they contested from Bellary. But on realising that neither was entering the fray, Vijayashanti and BJP chief M. Venkaiah Naidu returned here.

The actor had been fielded against Assaduddin Owaisi, son of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Sultan Salauddin Owaisi, on Monday from Hyderabad, or so everyone thought.

But today, as Naidu put it, the state BJP chief had been “overzealous” in prematurely naming Vijayashanti as candidate.

Earlier in the day, the BJP chief had said of Vijayashanti at an impromptu news conference: “She is a loyal party soldier. We had better plans for her. I had kept an aircraft ready at the airport to ferry her to Bellary in the event Congress president Sonia Gandhi opted for the parliamentary seat in Karnataka.”

After the BJP chief made it clear that the actor was being held back for some VVIP contest, Vijayashanti was asked if she was being offered a Rajya Sabha seat.

Saying she had not sought any party post, the “lady Amitabh” added: “If the party wanted to honour my talent and career… I will gladly accept it.”

The actor, who starred in the 2002 hit Osai Ramulamma as a Telengana woman — based on a real-life character who led the agitation against liquor in the state — said she had not altered her views on a separate Telengana state.

“I am all for Telengana even if the party has kept it in the sidelines for the time being,” Vijayshanti said.

Rubbishing reports that she was shifting loyalties to the Telengana Rashtra Samiti, the actor said her love for the region was very strong and her 2002 blockbuster had given her a better insight into the problems of the region.