By IANS,
New Delhi : Actor-tuned-politician K. Chiranjeevi Saturday formally joined the Congress by filling up a membership form in presence of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
The Telugu megastar, who had floated the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) in Andhra Pradesh (now merged with Congress), filled up a form seeking primary membership of the Congress. The formalities were fulfilled at the party headquarters here in the presence of Gandhi and other senior party leaders.
Chiranjeevi, while filling up the form, hailed Gandhi as the ray of hope for the country and a future prime minister.
“I will remain in the Congress for the rest of my life. I will be a loyal worker. I thank Rahulji, our Prime Minister in the future,” he said.
Besides Gandhi, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also party in-charge of Andhra, Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and political secretary to Congress president Ahmad Patel were present on the occasion.
PRP, which was launched in August 2008, has 18 members in the 294-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Accompanied by his party legislators and senior leaders, Chiranjeevi arrived here Friday to complete the Congress-PRP merger process.
He was earlier scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi between Aug 7 and 10, to formally take primary membership of Congress, but she is abroad for medical treatment of an undisclosed illness.
Chiranjeevi told reporters earlier in Hyderabad that he was happy about taking Congress membership in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. Besides, he said, it was a momentous occasion to join the Congress on the birth anniversary of former prime minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi.