Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh’s entry into the state cabinet has been on the cards for some time now. On Monday, he filed his nomination papers for election to the State Legislative Council under the MLA quota.
Earlier in February, the members of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) politburo had proposed Lokesh’s name for an MLC seat in the State Legislative Council under the MLA quota.
Soon after, he had thanked the party members for their support.
On Sunday, according to The New Indian Express, Chandrababu Naidu announced five finalised candidates for the Legislative Council election under the MLA quota.
Deputy CM KE Krishnamurthy, MLA Kalwa Srinivasulu, Party State President Kala Venkat Rao have reportedly proposed the candidature of Nara Lokesh.
Along with Lokesh for Chittoor district, the party has included Batchula Arjunudu for Krishna district, Karanam Balaram and Pothula Sunitha for Prakasam district and also Dokka Manikya Varaprasad for Guntur district.
However, TDP has decided to finalise only five candidates for the seven vacant MLC seats under the MLA quota and the election has been scheduled for March 20.
On this auspicious occasion, Lokesh garlanded a statue of his grandfather N T Ramarao at Venkatapalem, before filing his papers at the Assembly complex in the Interim Government Complex in Velagapudi.
Currently, Lokesh is a TDP general secretary. However he is not a member of either the Legislative Council or the Assembly.
While he had been working on the sidelines as early as the 2009 elections, he officially joined politics only in 2013.
Starting off as the President of the TDP's youth wing, Lokesh quickly rose through the ranks of the party, until he reached the post of Coordinator, cadre welfare fund.
In September 2015, Naidu promoted his son, making him an ex-officio member of the politburo and the general secretary of the party's central committee.
Though many years younger, Lokesh has also been considered as a counterpart for Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son, KT Rama Rao, who holds a ministerial post in the TRS ruled state, as well as the state's present Opposition leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who is the son of former CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
When asked about the comparisons, Lokesh had earlier said, "I’m not in a hurry. KTR is close to 40, Jagan is above 40, but I’m in my early thirties. I want to gain more experience, win a few elections before I’m tuned to it."
Lokesh is no stranger to controversy though, with opposition parties in the past accusing him of acting as an "extra-constitutional authority" - something that the TDP has constantly dismissed.
In November 2014, police had filed a criminal case against Nara Lokesh after he allegedly tweeted derogatory comments about KCR.