After appearing in nearly 150 films, Chiranjeevi has entered the unfamiliar theatre of politics with the hope of repeating the magic that N.T. Ramarao (NTR) did in 1982 - of sweeping the polls within nine months of a launching a new party. However, Chiranjeevi is not NTR and the political situation in Andhra Pradesh today is not comparable to the situation that catapulted NTR, say his political opponents and independent observers.

'The leader and masses are there. But to win elections, you need a political programme and an organization - he lacks both,' says Prof Hara Gopal, political scientist.

'Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) is more a commercial venture than a political party,' says Parakala Prabhakaran, who was among founding leaders of PRP in August last year. Disillusioned, Prabhakaran resigned from the party early this month.

'We thought using his charisma and crowd-pulling capabilities, we would build a new political platform. But he was neither interested in politics or in creating any structure.

' At a rally that Chiru addressed near Medak that went to polls in the first phase, a young crowd was ecstatic and charged as the star arrived three hours behind schedule in a scorching afternoon. They tried to touch him and were frantic as Chiranjeevi thanked them for the love, expressed by watching his movies.

'Now I will give you a lifetime of happiness, not merely happiness that lasts couple of hours,' he says rhetorically and moves on to his recurring theme - 'social justice.' 'He's using it in an abstract fashion,' says Gopal.

'Many of us in the party pleaded with him that our programme should be defined. He could not care less,' said Prabhakaran.

That's where Chiru is not a patch on NTR, also a film star but managed to rewrite the political scrip of AP permanently. 'NTR had a political programme that combined the interests of the poor and pride of the Telugu people,' says N. Chandrababu Naidu, his son-in-law and current TDP chief.

'NTR had articulated politics ranging from centre-state relations to local governance,' recalls Prabhakaran. There are more such dissimilarities that suggest Chiranjeevi is unlikely to replicate the TDP experience.

NTR fan following was better educated, socially respectable and spanned three generations; Chiru fans are less educated and restricted to the 18-30 age group. NTR made a social alliance of Khammas, a substantial section of backward castes and Madigas, a component of Dalits.

'NTR picked up socially acceptable candidates. Moreover, the situation was ripe for a non-Congress party,' says Gopal.

'PRP candidates are either moneybags or the weak ones fielded to help either the Congress or the TDP in particular seats,' says Prabhakaran. The impact that the PRP may make this time is going to be mere flicker that will die down in the storm of real politics.