Gearing up for the 2024 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday, December 28, announced that its general secretary Nara Lokesh will embark on a state-wide padayatra from January 27. Lokesh, son of TDP president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, will cover 4,000 km from Kuppam to Ichchapuram in 400 days. Kuppam, which is also Naidu’s constituency, is in the southernmost district of Chittoor. Ichchapuram constituency in the northernmost Srikakulam district is also represented by the TDP. The route map of the yatra will be announced soon.
Titled ‘Yuva Galam’, the yatra is targeted towards the youth of Andhra Pradesh. During the TDP's ongoing ‘Idhem Kharma Mana Rashtraniki’ campaign, a large number of young people have been showing up and raising concerns, according to the party. TDP's Andhra Pradesh unit president K. Acchannaidu said that during the padayatra, Lokesh will interact with people from various sections of society to know their problems.
The TDP alleges that Andhra Pradesh has been suffering under YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rule for the last three-and-a-half years, blaming the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government for unemployment among youngsters. "Due to backtracked development and lack of investments in the state, the future of youth in the state is at a crossroads. Youth constitute almost 50 % of the state's population but a mere 12% of the MPs from the state are under 40 years of age. We are unquestionably leading, but only in terms of drug and alcohol abuse, and crime rates. This is not what our people deserve," the party said in a note released to mark the padyatra's announcement.
The opposition party said Yuva Galam is a mass-outreach program by Nara Lokesh with the goal of sensitising the youth and voters to the prevalent issues in current governance and interacting with them while walking 100 Assembly constituencies in the state. A website called yuvagalam.com has been set up, where people can sign up to participate in the yatra.