Veteran Tollywood director and retiring Rajya Sabha member Mr Dasari Narayana Rao met Congress party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi today.

Dasari, a two-term member of the Rajya Sabha, is among the six retiring members whose term will come to an end on April 2. He has reportedly requested the party president to nominate him for the third term in the forthcoming biennial elections on March 30.

Dasari’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi comes in the wake of reports that mega star and Tirupati MLA Mr Chiranjeevi will replace him in the Rajya Sabha. However, the actor said only on Monday that he was still clueless on his proposed nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

The Dasari-Sonia Gandhi meeting gains significance as it comes two days after the Delhi tour of the PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana. Botsa said during his New Delhi tour that he would support the candidature of Chiranjeevi if the party high command chose him as one of the party candidates.

Through his statement, Botsa clearly indicated he has not recommended the candidature of Chiranjeevi to the party high command for the Rajya Sabha seat. There are also reports that Botsa has requested the party high command not to neglect Dasari in the Congress politics on the pretext of giving importance to the mega star.

The entire sequence of events is being interpreted in political circles that Botsa Satyanarayana is not in favour of Chiru going up the ladder to the Rajya Sabha on way to becoming a Union Minister.

Does Botsa see a formidable threat to his political career in Chiranjeevi? Is it forcing the wily North coastal Andhra politician to act against the actor’s political fortunes as a section of the media perceives? (J)