Film star and P.M. in poll showdown

Press, 7 January 1983, Page 6

Film star and P.M. in poll showdown

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi

A film star, aged 60, who is almost regarded as having divipe status by many of his fans, and the Prime Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi, will know their popularity when most of the results of Indian state elections are received today. Only three states went to the polls, but the attention is focused on Andhra Pradesh in the south where the film matinee idol, N. T. Rama Rao and Mrs Gandhi have staked their personal prestige.

Mr Rama Rao, who has acted in 300 films, often playing the role of an Hindu god and the saviour of the poor, leads his recentlyformed Telugu Desam (Land

of the Telugu) Party.

Mrs Gandhi remains her ruling Congress (I) Party’s star vote-catcher, and Mr Rama Rao’s challenge in her own stronghold has attracted wide publicity. Polling in Andhra Pradesh was marred by four deaths and. injuries to 100 people in election violence.

■ Votes will also be counted in Karnataka in the south as well as Marxist-ruled Tripura in the north-east .where nine people have died in the run-up to the elections, including three in a bomb attack on Wednesday. Mrs Gandhi, taking no chances, has conducted a whirlwind tour of Andhra Pradesh since mid-Decem-ber, addressing up to a dozen

meetings a day and saying that Mr Rama Rao was playing a political joke on the people.

The film star in turn has accused Mrs Gandhi of manipulating the state's politics, and has promised an honest administration. He has also aligned himself with Mrs Gandhi’s rebel daughter-in-law, Maneka, who leads a small group called Sanjay Vichar Manch named after her late husband, Sanjay.

A setback for Mrs Gandhi in Andhra Pradesh could create problems for her within her party, plagued by internal dissensions, but would not alter its position at the national level because parliamentary elections are due only in 1985.