Cong plans to star in Nandi awards show

Hyderabad:Will the Nandi awards presentation to be held on November 16 likely to be usedas a platform to project the Congress party in the run up to the next election?Analysts think so and point out that for the the first time ever thefunction is being organised at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in the city which canaccommodate up to 50,000 people. This supersedes the earlier practice of holdingit at the Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoranam at Public Gardens or at the People'sPlaza on Necklace Road.Those who are in the know of things say thatpreparations are being made in such a way that actors Mahesh Babu and his fatherKrishna, both of whom have agreed to campaign for the Congress are able to usethe occasion to root for the ruling party in a big way. Krishna will receive theNTR national award for the year 2003 and Mahesh Babu the best actor award forthe year 2006 for his film `Athadu,' at the Nandi awards presentationfunction.The choice of the bigger venue this time, according tosources, is mainly to facilitate thousands of fans of Krishna and Mahesh tocrowd the venue."Fans of both Mahesh Babu and Krishna will throngthe venue in huge numbers from all over the state," said actor Vijaychander,advisor of the newly formed `Krishna-Mahesh Sena'.An official sourcein the AP State Film, TV, and Theatre Development Corporation said the fansassociations would also be given passes for entry. "It will be the biggest everNandi awards show," the official said.However, the official reasonfor making it a big show is that Nandi awards from 2003-06 will be presented atthis function.There are no big stars other than Nagarjuna and MaheshBabu who will receive awards. This will facilitate Mahesh Babu to hog thelimelight in such a way that the Congress gets the most mileage out ofit."We are even making face masks of Mahesh for his fans to wear atthe function," an actor in the Krishna-Mahesh camp said.