Nara Lokesh, the heir of Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu, will test his communication skills from April 12 when he goes on a state-wide tour to campaign for the TD candidates.
However, Mr Lokesh has addressed a few meetings before, they were of small groups and mostly limited to Kuppam Assembly constituency which has been electing his father since 1989. Otherwise, he has been lagging behind compared to other Gen Next descendant like Jagan Mohan Reddy and his sister Sharmila and TRS supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s children KN. Rama Rao and Kavita who have proved their ability to bond with the masses.
“He is shy and more comfortable with people he knows in small groups. But he has enormous patience and listens to the other person,” according to a member of Team Lokesh which consists of about 20 groups handling various portfolios, from conducting surveys to drawing up campaign strategies to maintaining the party’s social media profile.
According to sources, Mr Lokesh underwent training in public speech and body language along with his father, who has improved remarkably in passing on his point while eliminating himself of clichés like “teliyachesukuntunnanu aa vidhamgaa munduku podaam” etc.
As part from his image-building, the TD has been projecting Mr Lokesh as the party’s prime strategist since 2009. His father makes clear to the world that it was Mr Lokesh who designed the cash transfer (direct benefit transfer) scheme.
The 2019 manifesto of the party however, dropped the DBT. The party’s media managers have been hovering stories that Mr Lokesh will contest from Serilingampally Assembly seat and go on a cycle yatra across Seemandhra.
Not an iota of this has materialized. As claimed by the party leaders that Mr Lokesh was the brain behind the “bring back Babu” campaign involving youth and IT professionals. He also monitors the surveys and advertising campaign of the party.