Naidu to send son Lokesh to Delhi as grooming exercise
Synopsis
In all probability, Nara Lokesh, son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, will be appointed his government’s special representative in New Delhi.
The buzz in the party is that the Telugu Desam Party’s national general secretary, who is already being seen by the ministers, officials and party leaders as the chief minister in waiting, will be shifted to New Delhi soon, to hog limelight like famous CM-sons KT Ramarao, Akhilesh Yadav, etc.
The general impression in the party is that Lokesh will take over from his father after 2019, if all goes as per the plans of Naidu. Before that, according to party sources, Naidu wants to give his son an opportunity to get some national exposure at New Delhi.
The AP government has a post of special representative, in the rank of a cabinet minister, in New Delhi. This person holding the post is meant to follow up on state projects which are pending with the central government for clearance.
In addition to that, he is expected to get funds allocated for new projects included in the budget. Naidu created the post of special representative after he became chief minister in 1994.
For the past two years, the post had been held by Kambampati Rammohan Rao, a former Rajya Sabha MP. Now the post has fallen vacant with his term expiring a month ago.
Party sources claim the post has been kept vacant only to appoint Lokesh as the special representative. This post, with cabinet rank, will give Lokesh access to meet central ministers in the name of pursuing the pending projects.
Naidu is arriving in Delhi next week to attend the meeting of Inter-State Council scheduled on July 16. On the eve of this meeting, Naidu is holding a meeting of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party, to elicit the opinion of the MPs on the filling of the post of special representative with Lokesh.
The previous special representative, Kamabampati could not prove his existence felt. Many in the party think that Lokesh fits the bill and his appointment would elevate the status of the post.
Lack of English-speaking MPs in Delhi is one of the TDPs weak points. None of the TDP MPs can speak Hindi fluently either. Sometime back, Naidu reportedly asked the TDP MPs not to give interviews to English channels, as they could not put across the party line succinctly.
US-educated Lokesh’s presence would facilitate the party to overcome this impediment. Lokesh’s shifting to Delhi will add a new dimension to party PR exercise at the national level , party sources argue.
Another compelling reason behind the proposal to shift Lokesh to New Delhi is the enormous clout KT Ramarao, the IT minister of Telangana, and son of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao , commands for at the centre with his brilliant presentations in the national conferences and with central bureaucrats. Many union ministers praised Ramarao’s presentations and stated that he had more clarity on the subject than the officials.
But Lokesh, who is neither an MLA nor any MP, is not able to bask in such glory. Above all, his leadership in Telangana met with too many electoral mishaps. Even in Andhra, there has been no serious work left for Lokesh since the government is facing rough weather because of the controversies that surround the new capital, land acquisition etc. This is too a difficult task for the newly-initiated Lokesh.
“So, New Delhi is safe haven for him. He can interact with central ministers, young MPs, AP cadre IAS officers and leaders of national parties.
“He can also give interviews to national channels and get exposure to Delhi’s political climate. The idea behind all this is to help Lokesh emerge as the Akhilsh Yadav of South India, after 2019,” said party sources.