Chiru attends inter-caste marriage, sparks row

KNOT FAIR: Chiru also spoke spiritedly about the virtues of inter-caste marriages.

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Hyderabad: Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi is caught in a controversy after he attended an inter-caste wedding that triggered objections from the bride's family.

The occasion was the marriage of noted Dalit activist-writer K Padma Rao's son Chetan with Nalini, a 24-year-old engineer from an upper caste.

The matinee idol attended the wedding, held at Film Nagar Club last Saturday, and blessed the couple. He also spoke spiritedly about the virtues of inter-caste marriages and the need for creating a casteless society.

The film star's presence at the Dalit boy's wedding led to a bitter row with the bride's parents who alleged their daughter was forced into the wedlock and kept in confinement by the family of the Dalit writer and with the "active support of the actor".

Incidentally, Padma Rao had recently joined Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam party, whose main plank is social justice.

Accusing the actor of staging a drama only to gain political mileage for his newly-launched party, Nalini's parents T Subba Rao and T Mani pointed out how Chiranjeevi himself had disapproved of his teenage daughter's proposal to marry her lover outside the caste.

They went to a local television channel with their version of the story and made allegations against the actor and the Dalit writer.

Last year, Chiranjeevi's daughter Sreeja eloped with her lover and got married, leading to a public showdown between the father and the daughter.