All eyes on Lokesh

Hyderabad: Nara Lokesh, son of the TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is out to play a key role in the run up to the polls. Inducted formally into the party at the last Mahanadu in May 2013, less than a year ago, he has shouldered the task of galvanising the support of the youths for the party. The young leader, who has been honing his oratorical skills for quite some time, will launch his “Yuva Prabhanjana yatra” on Saturday. His campaign, which according to the party sources was intended to focus on the youth and the urban electorate will take off from Nimmakaur, the native village of the TDP founder president, N T Rama Rao.

Accompanied by a motley group of youths drawn from different spheres of life, he will pay floral tributes to N T Rama Rao and his wife Basavatarakam by garlanding their statues in the village before hitting the road. The campaign would be organised by his own loyalists handpicked from each district. None of the party seniors, who had worked either with his father or his grandfather would be associated with the Yatra, said the party leaders. He will cover one district a day starting with Krishna. His yatra was programmed such a way that he would be able to address at least two public meetings a day. The road shows would be the main attraction of the Yatra.

He will tour in Telangana districts as well very soon. He had already made enough exercise on issues to be focused on during his election campaign in both the regions. The Yuva Prabhanjana yatra will continue till the elections. He will take one day break on April 17 for filing the nominations on behalf of his father and the TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu from Kuppam assembly constituency in Chittoor district. Lokesh was under tremendous pressure from different quarters to contest from any of the assembly constituencies of his choice from Seemandhra. But he preferred to shoulder the task of campaign for now, instead of directly jumping into the fray.

Lokesh had been playing a crucial role as schemer and planner of the party programmes for quite some. He had been at the centre stage of the youth wing activities in the party ever since NTR Junior started keeping himself away from the mainstream political activity in the party. He had been associated with the 2800 kilometer long walkathon of his father in some of the stretches. He is considered to be the brain behind the cash transfer scheme, one of the promises made by the TDP in the last elections.