Hyderabad: After Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao gave the additional Municipal Administration portfolio to his son K.T. Rama Rao following the GHMC polls, his AP counterpart Chandrababu Naidu is under pressure to confer a Cabinet post to his son and Telugu Desam general secretary Nara Lokesh. Some ministers and party leaders are pressuring Mr Naidu to send Mr Lokesh to the Rajya Sabha and later ensure that he is made a Union minister.
In AP, Mr Lokesh had not contested in the Assembly elections, nor was he nominated to the Legislative Council. But after the promotion of Mr K.T. Rama Rao in Telangana, some TD leaders, including ministers, are pressuring CM Naidu for a Cabinet berth for Mr Lokesh. A minister close to Mr Naidu said, “The issue is under consideration by the CM. He has also spoken about the Lokesh issue with some ministers.” He said that Mr Lokesh would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha in the next Rajya Sabha elections scheduled around June and later be made a Union minister.
Mr Naidu can easily make Mr Lokesh a minister in the AP Cabinet. The latter will need to be an MLC and inducted into the Cabinet. But party sources said that sending Mr Lokesh to the Union Cabinet is a political strategy of Mr Naidu. Currently, Mr Lokesh is looking after party affairs in Telangana and AP. But if he is made a minister in AP he cannot tour Telangana to strengthen the party. Mr Naidu too does not have any time to concentrate on the party’s TS affairs.
If Mr Lokesh is made an AP minister, Mr Naidu will have to handover the Telangana party affairs to someone else and it will go out of Mr Naidu or Mr Lokesh’s control. However, if Mr Lokesh becomes a Union minister he can tour Telangana and AP freely and strengthen the party without the TRS objecting. A senior TD leader said to avoid criticism by the TRS, Mr Lokesh would be made Union minister and depending on the situation in the next general elections, Mr Naidu may bring him to AP state by giving him an Assembly ticket.
Meanwhile, in the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections TD will get three seats out of four as one seat will be allotted to BJP to accommodate Union minister Venkaiah Naidu. Of the remaining two seats (if one is given to Mr Lokesh) the TD will allot one to a BC or SC. Union minister Y.S. Chowdary will retire as a RS member in June. If Mr Lokesh is sent to the Rajya Sabha, the renewal of Mr Chowdary’s RS membership may not be possible.
