The meeting between Union home minister amit shah and star N tarak Rama Rao (Junior NTR) is part of a party effort to leverage tollywood and other local celebrities for soft power. "The home minister plans to visit telangana once a month, and whenever he does, he will meet a lot more famous people, including athletes. According to a top bjp official who spoke to india Herald, these gatherings are a part of the party's outreach initiatives.

Sunday's conversation between Shah and junior ntr lasted almost an hour. The actor met other top bjp leaders, including telangana bjp President Bandi Sanjay, after being welcomed by Union minister g kishan reddy at the Novotel Hotel in Shamshabad. After the initial 20 minutes of discussion with top leaders, amit shah and junior ntr went on to hold a private meeting without the presence of other senior leaders.

Even though the bjp claimed the meeting was organised to honour the actor on the success of his most recent film, RRR, sources told TNM that politics also came up during the discussion. Up to 20 minutes were spent in private conversation between the actor and Shah, after which the two also went out to supper. party leaders in attendance at the Novotel were verbally instructed to refrain from having any further conversations with the actor because they wanted the attention to remain on their meeting with amit Shah.

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