Andhra Pradesh government is planning to provide a great opportunity to TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh Naidu to prove his leadership qualities.
In order to make him succeed like KT Ramarao, Lokesh’s counterpart in Telangana, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is said to be thinking of conducting election to 12 municipal bodies, where elections were put on hold due to court cases. After the appointment of senior IAS officer, Nimmagadda Rameshkumar, as chief of state election commission, it reliably learnt, the government is said to have asked the commission to get ready for the conduct of elections. According to TDP leaders, chief minister Naidu wants his son to lead the elections and emerge victorious like KT Ramarao did in GHMC, which effectively means, giving the opposition party only one seat and bag all other seats. Is it possible? Government will to extend full support for Lokesh, to make his success a cake walk. Would KT Ramarao have won the GHMC election without the support from his father’s government ? they ask and suggest Naidu to organize everything to make his son lead tDP to a tumultuous victory.
Municipal elections are due in Kurnool, Guntur, Vizag, Srikakulam, Kakinada, Ongole, Vizianagarm, Tirupati, (all corporations) and Betamcharla, Kandukuru, Rajam and Rajampet municipal councils. Many TDP leaders are of the view that Lokesh should prove his mettle before or immediately after he is inducted into the cabinet. It would justify his taking into state cabinet and otherwise people thinks he is appointed minister just because he is son of chief minister. This kind of elevation won’t do good to a young man who has long road ahead of him. So far, Lokesh has not had any electoral victory to his credit. The major electoral campaign he led, Greater Hyderabad election, was a disaster. While his TDP won just one seat out of 150 divisions, his bête noire KT Ramarao led the party to a landslide victory. GHMC was a setback for Lokesh’s leadership and it still is haunting him. Against this backdrop of grand failure, TDP leaders argue that the CM should create an opportunity to forget the past the help Lokesh start afresh his political career in Andhra Pradesh with a bang. For, this conducting elections to these local bodies and beating YSRC bite the dust with the help of BJP is the best bet.
State election commission chief Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar is said to have been instructed to gear up for the elections. Similarly the CM has reportedly instructed official to try to remove the hurdles for the conduct of the elections.
