After a brief hiatus, the opposition in Andhra Pradesh -Telugu Desam Party (TDP)- is inching back to action mode. Barring a few rallies, political activity in the TDP had come to a grinding halt following the arrest of party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu nearly 43 days ago.
It was reported earlier thatNaidu’s wife Nara Bhuvanesvari would hit the roads on a statewide tour. It has now been decided – as disclosed byher son and party general secretary Nara Lokesh at a party meeting on Saturday – that she would launch ‘Nijam Gelavali (Truth shall triumph)’ tour from October 25.
She would visit families of those who reportedly died reeling under shock after Naidu’s arrest. TDP estimates there nearly 150 people have passed away in response to either Naidu’s arrest or the denial of bail to him.
TDP scion Nara Lokesh is also going to hit the road and resume his father’s campaign ‘Babu Surety, Bhavishyathu ki guarantee’ from November 1.
Naidu was arrested by CID on September 9 on the charges of misappropriation of funds in state skill development corporation while he was on a party campaign ‘Babu surety, Bhavishyathu ki guarantee (Babu Surety is Guarantee for Future)’ in Nandyal.
However,his pada yatra – Yuva Galam – will be resumed only after Naidu is released from jail.
“Some people are believing that if Naidu is arrested TDP will come to an end. Getting alarmed is never in the TDP’s history. Our leader will soon come out with a clean record,” said Lokesh in the party’s general body meeting that was held on Saturday.
Such a meeting in which leaders fromacross the state participated was also held for the first time in recent times, after Naidu was sent behind the bars.
Observing that facing a crisis is nothing new to the TDP, Lokesh said that the late N T Rama Rao and Naidu had led the struggle whenever the party faced any kind of problems.
Incidentally, a crucial coordination meeting of TDP and Jana Sena will take place on Monday, in which a joint action plan will be finalised.Both Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan andLokesh are going to participate in the meeting.
This will be the first such high-level joint meeting of both the parties after Pawan Kalyan had announced an electoral pact a few days ago. Both parties have also appointed committeesfor coordination with each other.
Lokesh also exuded confidence that TDP-Jana Sena will win 160 Assembly seats in the state.
(Published 22 October 2023, 05:41 IST)