There is some logic in the demand that Jr NTR be made in charge of new state affairs made by a section of Telangana TDP yesterday. There has been some sense of insecurity among the committed TDP workers and leaders of the party in Telangana state ever since TDP boss Naidu started insisting on close cooperaton between Andhra and Telangana governments.
In Telangana, the regional sentiment is still intact. It has been amply demonstrated by the people of Warangal Lok Sabha constituency recently. Even though TDP supremo might have had some understanding with the Telangana chief minister, it would not be easy for Telangana people to accept Nara Lokesh as the leader of the party in new state. Naidu -KCR bonhomie, in fact, is bound to stunt the growth of the party rather than helping revival of the organization. The Telangana TDP leaders think that Nara Lokesh is not ideal leader to lead the party in their state.
Like Chandrababu Naidu, Lokesh is seen as ‘Andhrodu’ by Telangana people. Naidu can boast that he had built the hi-tech city , flyovers , international airport, ORR etc, but, they do not qualify an Andhra man to be accepted by the Telangana people as one among them.
Against this background Telangana TDP workers see no reason in thrusting Lokesh as the in-charge of the Telangana party. On the other hand, they want, Jr NTR be projected as the Telangana man. His mother is not from Andhra region. His father, Harikrishna is Hyderabadi. So, Junior NTR has no direct link to Andhra Pradesh. Above all, Junior NTR is a mass -hero unlike Lokesh, who has already built a fortress of authority around him. It is being debated in corridors of power that he would soon get enhanced security with a bullet proof car and personal security guards, which are really not qualifications of a budding leader.
Yesterday’s ire of Telangana leaders is an indication not only to their opposition to Lokesh, but also a pointer to the fear that the party, for which they had been working, was withdrawing from Telangana leaving them in lurch. Many of TDP leaders can’t switch over to any other political party including TRS. They want the TDP to survive and flourish in Telangana as a major political force. Appointing Lokesh, who is seen as Andhra man, would make their future bleak. They torn posters and flexies of Lokesh and demanded that Jr NTR be made the leader of Telangana TDP.
On the other side, there is some lurking fear among the non-political fans of Junior NTR. Naidu’s family do not agree any third man to enter the TDP as the leader. So, the supporters of Lokesh, with their political influence, would try to intimidate distributors and exhibitors working for Junior NTR movies and browbeat Junior from entering politics. If media reports are to be believed already they had created problems in many centres by making theaters unavailable for Nannku Prematho..
The differences between Nara and Harikrishna families also surfaced on NTR’s death anniversary on January 18. While Nara clan observed it as the program of NTR Trust headed by Chandrababu Naidu, Harikrishna called upon the fans to donate blood in the name of Nannaku Prematho….
