Andhra Pradesh police give permission to Lokesh’s ‘Yuva Galam’ padayatra but with conditions

TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh is set to begin the Yuva Galam from Kuppam in the Chittoor district on 27 January.

BySouth First Desk

Published Jan 24, 2023 | 9:55 PMUpdatedJan 24, 2023 | 9:55 PM

Nara Lokesh Yuva Galam

The Andhra Pradesh police on Tuesday, 24 January, accorded permission to the proposed 4,000 km-long padayatra — Yuva Galam — of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s son and party general secretary Nara Lokesh which is set to begin from Kuppam in Chittoor district on 27 January.

Chittoor SP Rishanth Reddy told PTI that the police imposed certain conditions which are common for all public gatherings and no specific condition was imposed for the padayatra.

“Whenever the padayatra enters a new constituency, the organisers need to take permission from the police of the district concerned,” Reddy said.

According to party sources, the foot march titled Yuva Galam (Voice of Youth) has been designed in such a way that Lokesh will cover around 125 constituencies in 400 days from Kuppam to Ichapuram.

The TDP, which is struggling to come back to power in Andhra Pradesh, is pinning hopes on the foot march presuming that it connects with the masses.

The party also hopes that the padayatra will galvanise the party cadre and revive its fortunes in the run-up to the 2024 Assembly polls in the state.

Former minister Lokesh is currently a Member of the Legislative Council and unsuccessfully contested from Mangalagiri Assembly constituency in the 2019 elections.

Controversy precedes the padayatra

The TDP, on 9 January, wrote to the state Director General of Police (DGP) KV Rajendranath Reddy seeking permission for the yatra and also adequate security for the participants.

Due to a lack of response from the DGP, a reminder was sent on 20 January, enquiring about the earlier letter.

TDP leaders received a communication from the DGP’s office the next day, 21 January, which sought details about the yatra on five different counts.

The TDP objected to this claiming a conspiracy against them, and termed the questions were of an imaginary nature, and also said the DGP’s office was harassing the Opposition.

“Opposition leaders across the country are conducting roadshows, holding public meetings, or organising padayatras to reach out to the people. Nowhere were such questions of an imaginary nature asked or raised. Never in the history of Indian politics were Opposition leaders harassed in the name of permission, even for conducting peaceful meetings, roadshows, and padayatras,” said Varla Ramaiah in a reply to the DGP.

“It is informed that it is the duty of the police to provide adequate security and other necessary arrangements instead of preventing Opposition political parties from conducting political activity in the name of permits,” he added.

Related: TDP sees conspiracy on police permission for Lokesh padayatra

Lokesh rallying for support

Lokesh, who has started asserting his position in the TDP, has also launched efforts to seek support from everyone in the party.

Recently, he held a video conference meeting with the members of the TDP Politburo — the decision-making body of the party — and also other senior leaders.

Seeking the support of all those who took part in the video conference for his padayatra, Lokesh promised to work hard to realise the dreams of the late NT Rama Rao — thespian and founder of the party — and take forward the vision of the TDP national president and his father N Chandrababu Naidu.

All the senior leaders promised to extend their cooperation for the padayatra.

In the meeting, Lokesh felt that even activists of the ruling YSRCP were strongly opposing the policies of the government and that anti-incumbency was growing by the day.

“This is the reason ministers and MLAs of the ruling party are also highly critical of Jagan Mohan Reddy,” he noted.

The TDP had already reached the common man with its “Badude Badudu” and “Idemi Kharma Mana Rashtraniki” programmes, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)