From backroom manager to minister, the rise and rise of Chandrababu Naidu son

With two years remaining for the elections, it is being seen as a move to promote Lokesh as a successor as well as position him to take on Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

Naidu will be 69 in 2019 and several TDP leaders believe he might be looking at 2024 for Lokesh to take over from him.

Until May 2013, Lokesh had stayed away from active politics and was executive director in the family-owned Heritage Foods Ltd. However, he was also a backroom boy in the TDP, planning and organising tours, public meetings and campaigns for his father and managing his busy schedules. Lokesh came to the notice of senior TDP leaders after he drew the roadmap for and planned and organised Chandrababu Naidu’s 2,800-km padayatra across the state from October 2012 to May 2013. Several leaders then suggested that he be given a bigger role in party.

On May 27, 2013, Chandrababu Naidu formally introduced Lokesh into the party at the TDP’s huge two-day gathering, Mahanadu, at Gandipet on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Lokesh was made the head of the TDP’s youth wing and also put in charge of its cadre welfare fund. It was the first time that Lokesh, then 33, had shared the dais with his father and other TDP leaders at a significant party gathering. He was welcomed by TDP activists.

Lokesh is said to have played a crucial role in the run-up to the 2014 elections by assessing ground reports from the districts and constituencies and helping select winnable candidates. He was credited with coordinating with various factions in the TDP in the districts in an effort to ensure there was no rebellion after ticket allotment. After the TDP victory, Lokesh continued to work as general secretary, touring the state alone and participating in cadre and worker meetings. He is also a member of the team that tracks and assesses performance of MLAs, ministers and MPs. Though he regularly interacts with officials in the CM’s Office regarding complaints and request he receives from the public, he has tried to avoid being looked upon as a parallel power centre.

Party insiders also credit the soft-spoken Lokesh in helping bring technology into the party and encouraging party leaders to use technology to stay in touch with cadre and track implementation of welfare schemes in their respective constituencies. It is Lokesh, again, who is credited with starting the trend of declaring assets of family members and urging all ministers and MPs to do the same every year.

“Young Lokesh frequently leaves seniors in awe when he makes PowerPoint presentations from his iPad about party membership drives, reach of welfare schemes in various constituencies and feedback from people on the TDP. In fact, many leaders suggested to Chandrababu that it is time to bring Lokesh into the ministry,” says former IT minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy.

In October 2015, Naidu reconstituted the TDP politburo and inducted Lokesh into the central committee, making him party general secretary. Lokesh started attending party meetings, interacting with MLAs and MPs and senior party leaders in the districts. While Lokesh became more active in the party, his wife Brahmani took over as director in Heritage Foods Ltd.

Since December 2015, Lokesh has been mostly camping in Vijayawada and taking a keen interest in development of capital Amaravati.

Lokesh is an MBA from Stanford University and has a BSc degree in MIS from Carnegie Mellon University. Party leaders speak of his ability to stay cool even in the face of criticism, when others have often been known to lose their cool when facing accusations from Jaganmohan. When he wishes to make a statement, he uses Twitter.

In his affidavit for the MLC polls, Lokesh declared assets worth Rs 329.51 crore, including Rs 273.84 crore in the form of shares in Heritage Foods Ltd.