Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary Nara Lokesh on Thursday revealed that the his party’s previous government in Andhra Pradesh had rejected the offer of Pegasus to sell its spyware to the state.

Lokesh, who was Information Technology Minister in the TDP cabinet headed by his father N. Chandrababu Naidu, clarified that the TDP government did not purchase any spyware.

“Yes, Pegasus offered to sell its spyware to the AP government as well but we rejected it,” he told reporters.

Lokesh denied that the TDP government purchased or used any spyware. “We never indulged in any illegal phone tapping. If the government purchased the spyware, there would be a record of it.”

He was reacting to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s purported claim that the Chandrababu Naidu government purchased the Pegasus Spyware. “She was misinformed. If we had resorted to such things, Jagan Mohan Reddy would not have come to power in 2019,” he said.

“I don’t know whether she has indeed said that, and where and in which context. If she did say that, she is certainly misinformed,” said Lokesh adding that Chandrababu Naidu would never indulge in such illegal acts.

“If there had been any such thing, would the (current) Jagan regime spare us? In the last three years, they have tried every trick to fix us in one thing or the other but failed, because we did nothing wrong,” said Lokesh, who is a member of the Legislative Council.

Lokesh further said that immediately after coming to power, Jagan Reddy had got all files in the IT and all other departments inspected thoroughly. He would have taken action if any illegal act was found, he added.

Nara Lokesh is said to be planning to execute an innovative idea in the TDP’s Guntur unit. He has reportedly realised that several senior leaders have lost their will to fight further battles against the ruling party in AP. Internal reports have revealed that several such big names have entered into tacit understanding with the ruling YSRCP in the local body and municipal elections.

These leaders have not even tried to defend Chandrababu Naidu when he was under attack. In Guntur, leaders like Prathipati Pulla Rao, Alapati Rajendra Prasad, Yarapatineni Srinivas Rao and others ruled the roost when the TDP was in power. Now these leaders are not to be seen anywhere. Except perhaps Dhulipalla Narendra, all other leaders are playing safe.

So, Lokesh reportedly decided not to give tickets to any of these leaders. However, to ensure that they do not turn against the party, their wards or heirs would be given the party tickets. This way they would be forced to work for their wards in the elections. At the same time, they would be kept off the picture so that the anger of the lower level cadre against them is minimised.

With these young heirs and wards of the senior leaders, he would be in a position to form a team of young leaders. These young leaders will not be carrying the old baggage of their parents. They will be able to work afresh, feels Lokesh. This strategy will help in rebuilding a new TDP, feels the party sources.

With 2024 just three years away, the Opposition TDP is trying to re-invent itself. The party is now trying to turn the tide of defeat into a huge success by taking up a massive outreach very soon. This outreach is all set to last for over a year so that all parts of the state are covered. If TDP insiders are to be believed, this yatra would be spearheaded by Nara Lokesh and he would in all probability invoke the name of his grandfather NTR.

Sources say that the main slogan of the yatra would be “Jai NTR – Jai Telugu Desam.” NTR’s charisma, leadership and pro-people attitude would be invoked throughout the yatra. According to TDP insiders, Lokesh will take a leaf from YSRCP’s YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and install NTR statues in every village. Like YS Jagan, Lokesh will inaugurate these statues en route his yatra. This would help in establishing Lokesh as the heir of NTR. A plan of action has reportedly been readied up for the unveiling of NTR statues in every village of the 13 districts in the state.

Along with this, Lokesh will be assisted by a team of advance party, who will identify the major problems of every village. Lokesh will speak about these problems when he visits the village. Thus, this will help Lokesh establish a powerful connect with the locals. In addition, the party network will help him about the local histories, traditions and other issues that could be mentioned during the yatra.

The TDP thinking heads feel that Lokesh will have one great advantage over his father Chandrababu Naidu. There would be no mention of the soured relations between NTR and Chandrababu and the memories of the August 1994 coup. Lokesh can start afresh and can capitalise on the grandfather-grandson connect. The nitty gritty of the yatra are reportedly being worked out.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Thursday appealed to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to immediately come to the rescue of private school teachers.

“I bring to your urgent attention an issue that remains under-reported and unrecognized by the government. The first and second waves of the coronavirus pandemic have left thousands of private teachers in financial and mental turmoil,” said Lokesh.

Considering this predicament, especially in the light of a private school owning couple committing suicide recently in Kurnool district, he demanded that the state government provide immediate assistance.

The TDP’s second in command advised the Chief Minister to learn from Telangana and Karnataka which doled out financial assistance and provisions to the beleaguered private teachers.

“Similarly, there must be immediate financial and in-kind transfers to their families in the short-term in AP, on the lines of what other governments have done,” he noted.

According to Lokesh, there are 12,000 private schools in Andhra, providing employment to nearly 1.25 lakh teachers who are receiving only 60 per cent to 70 per cent of their salaries, including lack of clarity on retrenched teachers.

“Thousands of teachers in private schools have been receiving salaries irregularly since the lockdowns began in March 2020. Over the last five months, nearly 5 lakh members of the teaching and non-teaching staff working in schools, colleges and universities have borne the brunt of the economic recession resulting from the Covid pandemic,” he observed.

He reminded that several Telugu and English dailies reported how private school teachers were forced to sell vegetables, do manual labour, work as construction labourers and take up other odd jobs to make ends meet.

“There is an instance of a Telugu lecturer with a PhD in Kadapa who was forced to do agricultural labour to support his family. Another Telugu teacher from Nellore was forced to sell bananas to sustain himself and his family amid the Covid pandemic,” Lokesh lamented.

Highlighting that these are only a fraction of several such tragic stories, Lokesh said caring for them and ensuring their dignity and livelihood will ensure that these teachers’ services to our current and future generations will continue.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Saturday demanded stringent action against police officials who were allegedly involved in harassment that led to the suicide of two young persons recently.

“Stringent action must be taken against police officials responsible for the suicide of two youngsters. Government should immediately provide aid to their families,” said Lokesh.

Majji, a resident of Rajamahendravaram rural released a video message before committing suicide, in which he recounted the ordeal he has been put through by a police constable from Chillakallu.

Majji said he brought two bottles of liquor from Telangana into Andhra Pradesh to treat his friends a year ago but was apprehended by the police at Chillakallu near Jaggayapeta in Krishna district.

Though he brought only two bottles of liquor, he alleged police wrongly booked the case as five bottles and a constable by the name Shiva called him to demand Rs 1 lakh or face a fake marijuana case.

Continuing in the video, the helpless youth said he did not know what to do and apologized if he had ever hurt them and went on to take the extreme step.

Besides this, Lokesh cited the case of Alisha’s suicide from Bhattupalem in Guntur district due to alleged excise officials’ harassment and claimed that young people are sacrificed for Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s greed for money.

“Majji’s suicide is a sad development. Just for two bottles they (police) harassed him to death, then what punishment should be given to Reddy for Rs 25,000 crore illegal liquor business,” alleged the TDP’s second in command.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national General Secretary Nara Lokesh on Saturday demanded the Andhra Pradesh government to restore all subsidies, benefits and disaster relief assistance to the weavers of the state in the interest of their overall development.

Extending greetings to the weaver community, Lokesh made these remarks on occasion of National Handloom Day.

“It’s unfortunate that the YSRCP government had stopped all the benefits that were being given to the weavers’ families. More than Rs 50,000 worth incentives and concessions were denied to each weaver per year,” he alleged.

The TDP leader also claimed that the state government led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is only doling out Rs 24,000 to the weavers, and even that fails to reach most of the weavers.

“The purchase of weaver’s products by APCO has also been stopped under this negligent government. The weavers are out of work while the income of the labourers has also shrinked,” Lokesh alleged.

He also said that the state government did not come to the rescue of the weavers at the time of crisis.

The TDP leader said that he made several requests for providing Rs 1.5 lakh subsidy loans to the weavers for setting up their own looms, but the state government turned a deaf ear.

“The Chief Minister had ignored the demand for providing Rs 10,000 cash assistance per month to each weaver’s family during the Coronavirus pandemic,” he alleged.

Lokesh said the ruling YSRCP will pay a heavy price if it continues to betray the people with empty promises.

He also demanded that benefits under ‘Neta Nestham’ should be given to all the weavers’ families immediately, including reviving all the welfare programmes and incentives, which were in place in the state during the previous TDP government.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Friday lashed out at Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for the breaking of a floodgate at Pulichintala Project and said that lakhs of cusecs of water is going waste into the sea.

“Lakhs of cusecs of water is going waste into the sea,” said Lokesh and alleged that the corruption during Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s time is getting exposed now in his son Jagan Mohan Reddy’s time.

He alleged that massive corruption occurred in the name of Jalayagnam which was undertaken during the former CM’s tenure.

Earlier, he targeted Jagan Mohan Reddy over the job calendar.

The TDP general secretary said the Chief Minister creates illusions about things which will not work out and called the job calendar as one such.

He demanded that the CM cancel the job calendar which he issued recently and release a new one with 2.3 lakh jobs and extended his support to a bunch of jobless youth fasting at Vijayawada dharna chowk.

Lokesh called on all the jobless youth to register on the website created for this purpose, and fight till they get jobs by taking on the CM.

There is an intense buzz in the political circles about TDP all India General Secretary Nara Lokesh will fight a bye-election from North Andhra. Many feel that this will be Chandrababu’s master plan to re-launch his son. As part of this, Lokesh would contest and win from a legislative assembly seat. This will wipe off the ignominy of losing from Mangalagiri constituency in 2019.

One of the major causes for criticism against Lokesh is that he has become a minister through backdoor by becoming an MLC. His only attempt in the assembly elections ended up as a major embarrassment what with local lad Alla Ramakrishna Reddy defeating him fair and square in Mangalagiri. Since then, one of the main criticisms against Lokesh is that he could not muster popular support.

Lokesh has since improved his diction, manner of speech and his public address capabilities He has also shown himself to be a dynamic leader by rushing to problem spots and standing by the victims. Of late, he has also established himself as a good communicator by interacting with the youth on issues like unemployment and examination postponement His power-packed punches during the zoom meetings too have endeared himself to the youth in a significant manner.

But, the main test for Lokesh is to demonstrate his ability to win the direct elections. That will establish his leadership. Hence, he is said to be considering fighting the elections from a safe seat North Andhra, especially in the Vizag district. This success will establish his credentials a popular leader, according to party insiders. His MLC term will expire only in March 2023. Lokesh wants to ender the assembly even before that. This will establish him as a popular leader, party sources said.

The TDP leaders are furious over the ‘illegal detention’ of pro-TDP social media activists Mahesh and Kalyan by the Arundelpet police in the Guntur district. They are mostly targetting Guntur Urban SP Ammi Reddy. Chandrababu Naidu even wrote a letter and urged the DGP to release the two illegally arrested activists unconditionally and also initiate stringent action against the erring police officers.

But, TDP MLC Nara Lokesh went a step ahead and made a scathing attack on the Guntur Urban SP. Lokesh asked why the SP was silent on the cases not being booked based on the complaints given by the TDP leaders against Minister Seediri Appala Raju. In return, the Guntur police filed reverse cases against the complainants. Ammi Reddy also had no answers when he was asked why cases were not being booked against the YSRCP social media activists when they were posting nasty videos against the TDP.

Mr. Lokesh, in his first such aggressive criticism against the police, advised Mr. Ammi Reddy to give up the khaki uniform and wear the YSRCP blue dress if he would like to serve only his caste. Sitting in the SP office in Guntur, it would not be correct for the SP to take unlawful orders from the Tadepalli residence.