Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonstrative affection toward Nara Lokesh—referring to him as ‘Bhai’—while praising him profusely for the success of the ‘Yog Andhra’ initiative has set the political circles abuzz in Andhra Pradesh.
Lately, Modi is seen warming up to the next generation leadership of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies—for example, calling Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son and Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde ‘Bhau‘.
But in Andhra Pradesh, the PM’s acknowledgement of minister Lokesh’s organisational competence comes amidst a growing chorus in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the party-dominated state cabinet to further elevate Naidu’s son, the heir apparent, in both roles.
Modi’s adulation is being seen by Lokesh’s supporters as validation of the demand.
“I want to make a special mention, appreciation of Lokesh efforts over the past one-and-a-half months, turning Yoga into a social celebration, including the people from all sections of society in the exercise,” Modi said at the International Day of Yoga (21 June) event in Visakhapatnam.
“Bhai Lokesh deserves plentiful congratulations. How bhai Lokesh made Yog Andhra a social movement should serve as a model. The spirit of such public participation is the basis for Viksit Bharat (developed India),” Modi said, noting that more than two crore people participated in the month-long exercise conducted across Andhra Pradesh.
The unexpected public display of affection by the prime minister has Lokesh overwhelmed, says a close associate.
Public this time, but the show of affection is not one-off.
Lokesh met with PM Modi in New Delhi on 17 May and they held an affable conversation. Accompanied by his wife Brahmani and son Devansh, Lokesh also had a leisurely dinner with the prime minister at his official residence.
The meeting, party sources said, came after the PM teasingly complained to Lokesh during the Amaravati capital project reinauguration event 2 May that the Andhra minister does not come to meet him.
“Unbelievable as it appears, Lokesh says he is privileged to be receiving such warmth from the PM,” says the associate. “Lokesh, the TDP’s heir apparent and a political leader, administrator with merit, is humbled by the PM’s gestures.”
Lokesh, 42, a first-term MLA from Mangalagiri, is a second-time minister in his father Chandrababu Naidu’s cabinet, looking after the important human resources development; IT electronics & communication; and real time governance.
During the TDP’s previous term, Lokesh, elected an MLC in 2017, was the minister for IT, panchayati raj and rural development. A Stanford MBA, he is also the party’s powerful general secretary.
‘To keep Kalyan in check?’
Earlier this year, several TDP leaders and ministers publicly demanded that Lokesh be made the second deputy chief minister, a proposition that would have diluted incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s position. Kalyan, the Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief, is the coalition partner in the Naidu-led NDA government.
Though settling to work under Naidu’s leadership this tenure, Kalyan’s ambitions to assume the CM chair in the future are well known. He had parted ways with the TDP and contested, rather unsuccessfully in 2019, in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left.
A senior BJP leader suggested to ThePrint that Modi’s geniality could be to keep Pawan Kalyan in check, “in line with the agenda to merge the JSP with the BJP, eventually.”
“Modi insisted on Lokesh visiting him and also hosted dinner for his family. We know Modi-Pawan bonding is also like ‘bade bhai-chhote bhai’, but did the PM extend such gestures for the JSP chief lately?” queried the BJP leader.
“If I was in Kalyan’s place, I’d be troubled by this Modi-Lokesh closeness lately,” says Chakravarthy Nalamotu, chairperson of civil society platform AP Tomorrow.
But noted political observer D.A.R Subramanyam, the chairman of Guntur-based Navyandhra Intellectual Forum, differs.
“I don’t think Modi will be, nor there is any need to be, mean to Kalyan. The JSP chief has been a loyal partner, and the BJP has big plans to put the actor-turned Hindutva supportive politician’s charisma to good use in the south, beginning with the Tamil Nadu elections next year,” says Subrahmanyam.
While a TDP functionary said Modi’s praise for Lokesh has left Kalyan, also present on the Vizag event, “red faced”, a senior JSP leader rubbished all such talk as absurd. “Kalyan is not an insecure leader. His equation with the PM remains strong and intact.”
JSP leaders assert that Kalyan regards Modi as his elder brother and Guru and that the PM reciprocates the respect.
Meanwhile, Modi’s adoration for his son, TDP insiders told ThePrint, has made Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu “very glad”.
Following the growing chorus to make Lokesh the deputy CM, there was a barrage of petitions to Naidu last month, during the TDP annual conclave Mahanadu to elevate him as the party’s working president. Naidu, 75, and vastly experienced in politics, more so in steering coalitions, deterred, and shelved the promotion for now.
Political observers see Modi’s interactions with Lokesh as part of the prime minister’s pattern to strengthen the NDA by actively involving the scions, nurturing their abilities and ambitions, while boosting his popularity among the next generation leaders.
Some say Modi might be looking at Lokesh as his point person in the TDP, the biggest NDA ally after the BJP.
“The TDP-BJP alliance was renewed last year, but given the nasty 2018-19 parting, rancorous exchanges and political accusations, I don’t think the Modi-Naidu equation is very great. Probably, Modi sees Lokesh as different from Naidu, feeling comfortable interacting with him, while knowing his importance in the TDP in future. It is a smart move,” says Nalamotu.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: As TDP gears up for convention on YSR turf, why all eyes are on Lokesh’s elevation as heir apparent
