Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh fired first salvo at his bete noire KT Ramarao of TRS. Launching the GHMC poll campaign today after a meeting with Hyderabad party leaders, Lokesh asked Ramarao , who is leading the GHMC campaign on behalf of TRS, that if he would stick to this challenge that he would resign if pink party failed to win 100 division in GHMC elections. He dismissed that TRS was a force in Hyderabad by asking, “if you think you are stronger in Hyderabad, why are you encouraging defections, especially from the Telugu Desam Party.”
Lokesh, however, settled for Kingmaker role. He said TDP would emerge in the GHMC elections as kingmaker.
Lokesh will be participating in the GHMC campaign from January 24 to January 30. In his first poll-time press conference today, Lokesh did not spare even Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
He targeted chief minister KCR, son and IT minister KTR and TRS performance in the state.Taking a bit hard-line, the TDP national general secretary said people lost confidence in KCR’s leadership.
” KCR has confined himself to the farm-house because he realized that people had lost confidence him. So, he is pushing son KTR to frontline,” Lokesh said. KCR, according to Lokesh, is not even in a position to visit the secretariat.
As for TRS rule, he said why should people vote for TRS which could not provide even roads in Hyderabad. He said there was no need to react further on KTR’s comments. ” Revanth Reddy has already reacted on KTR’s statements,” he said.
In fact, Lokesh entry is too late. Congress and TRS have covered the entire city. They are in the second or third round. The delay has dampened the spirit of the TDP workers in the city. TDP has some unique membership in Telangana, who refuse to be wooed by any other political party. They remain in the party, whether the Yellow party is in power or not.
Party sources said Lokesh was really serious about the poll campaign as it was going to be a test for his ability to lead the party. He is expected rope in cabinet ministers from Andhra Pradesh also to tour some divisions in Hyderabad and interact with the people.
YSRC : A bunch of 420s
Lokesh dubbed YSRCP as a bunch of 420s. Barring a couple of leaders, all those surrounding YSRCP leader Jaganmohan Reddy were 420s, Lokesh said. The young commander of TDP was very particular about Chevireddy’s track record. He reminded that previous government had booked as many as 45 cases against the Tirupati MLA.
He heckled Jagan for his challenge that he would resign if the footage of attack on Tirupati Airport manager was shown as evidence. He said footage was available in public domain.
