The TDP leadership had almost made up its mind to launch a mass contact programme for party chief N Chandrababu Naidu. The programme is likely to start in August and the schedule is to be decided during Mahanadu to be held in the last week of May.
In all probability, Chandrababu Naidu would undertake a bus yatra across the state. He is planning to cover every revenue mandal in every Assembly segment in the next two years. The back of the TDP is preparing a list of the failures of the YSR Congress government in the last three years to highlight them during Naidu’s bus yatra.
The strategic team of the party, which sits in the NTR Bhavan in Hyderabad, is also busy preparing route map and the issues to be raised during the public meetings of the party chief.
While the party leadership is busy with the preparatory work for Naidu’s bus yatra, the young teams of the party are encouraging their general secretary Nara Lokesh to undertake a parallel programme to be in the midst of people.
Initially there was a proposal for Lokesh to start padayatra but it is said that majority of the party leaders are in favour of cycle yatra. According to the initial plans, Lokesh would go around the state with about 50 cycles with him.
However, there is another argument that the two simultaneous yatras would divert the attention of the media and the people as well. Lokesh yatra would take a portion of media attention and that would dilute the seriousness of Chandrababu Naidu’s bus yatra.
The senior leaders advise Lokesh to stay back as Chandrababu Naidu would go around in the bus yatra. They want the media and the peoples’ focus to remain with Chandrababu Naidu so as to counter the ruling YSR Congress campaign and strategy.
However, sources say that Lokesh is unwilling to stay away while his father goes around. Lokesh and his coterie want the young leader to play a key role in the 2024 elections to be close to the people. It is to be seen whether Lokesh would stay silent or would take up a simultaneous programme along with his father.
