All eyes on TDP's Mahanadu as clamour increases to give Nara Lokesh key party post

Hyderabad: This year's Mahanadu, the ruling TDP's annual conclave set to be held next week in Andhra Pradesh, is generating significant attention for two key reasons -- first, the event will be held in Kadapa, known as the bastion of the YS family, a first since the party's inception; second, there is growing clamour among party cadres for Nara Lokesh's elevation within the party.

Young leaders in the party are particularly vocal in demanding that Lokesh be made working president of the TDP. Mahanadu is also being held first time after TDP registered a historic victory in 2024 polls trouncing YSRCP.

Currently serving as general secretary of TDP and IT minister in his father's cabinet, Lokesh is the son of N Chandrababu Naidu, the party's national president and state chief minister. Previously, Naidu dismissed calls to appoint Lokesh as Deputy Chief Minister, as he was concerned that such a move could jeopardize political equations with Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, who currently holds that position.

Many party cadres and leaders acknowledged that Lokesh's 'Yuva Galam' pada yatra played a crucial role in helping TDP regain power in 2024, at a time when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP appeared invincible. Political observers are closely watching how Naidu will respond to the growing demand for his son's promotion within the party structure.

For both TDP and Lokesh, the Yuva Galam padayatra has been a pivotal moment. While Lokesh has been active in politics since just before the 2014 polls, the walkathon has transformed his image among party cadres and improved his approval ratings, both within the party and beyond.

Following Yuva Galam, he no longer embodies a soft, inaccessible persona. He has emerged as a tough, vocal, assertive, grassroot-level leader who connects with the masses. The padayatra came at a critical time when cadres were in disarray and directionless following TDP's humiliating defeat in the 2019 elections, their worst since the party's formation in March 1982.

During this period, YSRCP supremo and then chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had kept the TDP under constant pressure, allowing little room for recovery. Even those leaders who had previously dismissed Lokesh as a junior are now looking up to him for leadership.

In his remarkable 226-day padayatra, Nara Lokesh covered 3,132 kilometers across 100 assembly constituencies in 11 combined districts of Andhra Pradesh. He began the journey from his family's pocket borough, Kuppam, in Chittoor on January 27, 2023.

"Lokesh has also launched many welfare programmes for party workers by introducing insurance and other benefits. He has been active in driving the party's membership enrollment. He has been a galvanizing figure, and it's the right time to infuse young blood into the party by making Lokesh the party's working president," said a senior TDP leader.

If Lokesh is appointed as the party's working president, it will signal the passing of the party baton to the next generation of the Nara family.

Mahanadu is traditionally conducted as a three-day event between May 27 and 29. Nearly 120 acres at Pabbapuram Layout on Kadapa's outskirts have been earmarked for this year's event. Preparations are in full swing under the direct supervision of Naidu and Lokesh.

The Mahanadu programme began in 1982 when the TDP was formed by legendary actor, the late Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR), on March 29, 1982. Since then, TDP has organized Mahanadu annually on May 27, 28, and 29.

Resolutions form the cornerstone of Mahanadu, indicating the party's stance on major political, economic, social, agricultural, educational, industrial, and other issues. The main purpose of these resolutions is to clearly convey the party's thoughts to the public. The event brings together everyone from grassroot TDP activists to state and national presidents.