Popular multilingual actor Prakash Raj ushered in the New Year in his inimitable style. As the clock struck 12 midnight, the actor made an announcement on his social media handle that he would be contesting 2019 parliament elections as an independent candidate.
He took to his twitter and wrote, “HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE.. A new beginning. More responsibility with UR support, I will be contesting in the coming parliament elections as an INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE. Details of the constituency soon. Ab ki baar Janatha ki SARKAR #citizensvoice #justasking in parliament too.” Several Twitterati came to his support and welcomed his decision.
The actor, who is popular in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada film industries, is vocal about many issues and his anti BJP stance (criticising PM Modi) is a known secret. After ace Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, who took the political plunge, it is Prakash Raj’s turn to venture into politics.
Speculations are rife that he might contest from his home state Karnataka, although he is yet to reveal it officially. Prakash Raj’s official entry into politics is long overdue. The actor became politically active after the death of his friend and activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh.
He earlier made scathing remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for staying silent over the attacks taking place under the garb of religious sentiments in the country. “They call me anti-Hindu but I am anti-Modi, anti-Shah, anti-Hegde. They are not Hindus. People who support killings are not Hindus,” the actor had said.
Raj had also actively campaigned during Karnataka elections last year under the hashtag #justasking and created a huge buzz and awareness.
On the career front, the national award winner has eight films in different languages in his kitty including NTR, Dev and Agni Siragugal.
