Lokesh’s quiet yet strategic meetings with PM Modi and key Union Ministers reflect efforts to position him as TDP’s emerging face and vital link between the Centre and Andhra Pradesh.
Published Jun 21, 2025 | 7:24 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 21, 2025 | 7:24 PM
Andhra Pradesh: Nara Lokesh to lead a GoM for the state's prestigious Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam
Synopsis: Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh’s IT and HRD Minister, is steadily cementing his status as the national face of the Telugu Desam Party. Once dismissed after his 2019 Mangalagiri defeat, Lokesh has transformed into a strategic leader. As chairman of the International Yoga Day committee, Lokesh ensured a flawless event in Visakhapatnam, earning direct praise from Prime Minister Modi
Nara Lokesh, the 42-year-old Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for Information Technology, Electronics, Communications, and Human Resources Development, is surely but steadily emerging as the national face of the Telugu Desam Party.
Once brushed aside as “unprepared and an upstart” following his rout in Mangalagiri in 2019 elections, Lokesh has come a long way, transforming into a resilient and strategic leader.
Lokesh’s role as chairman of the committee for the International Yoga Day event in Visakhapatnam further elevated his profile. The event, attended by Prime Minister Modi, was a logistical success, with Lokesh overseeing extensive arrangements. Modi specifically praised Lokesh’s efforts, a gesture that resonated widely within TDP circles and reinforced his growing stature.
Look at what Narendra Modi, who led the International Yoga Day celebrations at Visakhapatnam on Saturday, 21 June said about the TDP general secretary.
Calling him bhai, Modi said “I want to praise Lokesh profusely. He has proved how a social celebration should be planned, and executed and how all sections of society should be brought together in just one and a half month. Bhai Lokesh should be complemented very profusely for this remarkable achievement. How Lokesh had organised the Yogandhra Abhiyan should serve as a role model for the rest of India. In this abhiyan, two crore people took part in it. This is the cardinal principle of the vikasit baharat,” as Lokesh seated on the dais looked at him demurely.
Lokesh’s recent high-profile engagements with national leaders, including a one-on-one dinner with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and meetings with key Union Ministers, signal concerted but unobtrusive efforts to position him as the identity of the party, acting as a bridge between the centre and the state.
On 17 May, 2025, Lokesh, accompanied by his wife Brahmani Nara and son Devaansh, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a private dinner at the latter’s residence in New Delhi.
The meeting, described by Lokesh as an “honor and privilege,” was more than a courtesy call. In a post on X, Lokesh expressed gratitude for Modi’s continued support toward Andhra Pradesh’s growth and discussed the state’s role in achieving the Prime Minister’s vision of a Vikasit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047.
He is also understood to have provided detailed updates on the NDA coalition’s rule and achievements in Andhra Pradesh since its formation in June 2024. The dinner underscored Lokesh’s growing rapport with Modi, with Brahmani Nara praising the Prime Minister as “one of the greatest leaders” for his commitment to transforming India into a global superpower.
In his one-on-one with Home Minister Amit Shah on 18 June, Lokesh reportedly elaborated on the NDA coalition’s achievements over the past year, including progress on central-supported projects and the state’s overall situation. The discussions with Shah also are said to have touched other issues, reflecting Lokesh’s role as a trusted interlocutor between the TDP and the BJP-led central government.
The same day he met Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan and discussed education reforms in Andhra Pradesh, including the Learning Excellence in Andhra Pradesh (LEAP) initiative and new universities.
He also met Union Food Processing Industries Minister Chirag Paswan and disused central support for food processing units in Rayalaseema. The next day he met Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Lokesh also met vice-president Jagdeep Dhankar on his first day – 18 June, and former former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair the next day.
Interestingly, he met ministers whose portfolios do not overlap his at the state and yet he took up the state issues with them. Lokesh handles portfolios of IT, Electronics & Communication, Realtime Governance and Human Resources Development. For instance, Amit Shah, who is no 2 in the central government, holds Home portfolio which at the state level does not come under him. Likewise, sports, law, food processing industries, labour ad so on.
Lokesh’s rise has not been without challenges. His 2019 defeat in Mangalagiri and earlier criticisms of being “raw” fueled skepticism about his leadership. However, his 400-day Yuva Galam padayatra, covering 4,000 kilometers from Kuppam to Ichchapuram, transformed his public image.
The 2023 march connected him with Andhra Pradesh’s youth and grassroots, helping the TDP secure a landslide victory in the 2024 elections, winning 164 of 175 assembly seats alongside its NDA partners. Lokesh himself won Mangalagiri by a record margin of 91,413 votes, a stark contrast to his earlier loss. His strategic use of technology in the TDP’s membership drive, enrolling five million members, and his crisis management during his father N Chandrababu Naidu’s 2023 arrest further solidified his credentials as a leader who acts decisively.
Within the TDP, calls to elevate Lokesh to Deputy Chief Minister or working president reflect his growing influence. At the party’s Mahanadu conclave in Kadapa in May 2025, speculation was rife that Lokesh would be named the TDP’s number two, a move seen as formalizing his role as the party’s future leader.
As the TDP prepares for its next chapter with Lokesh at the helm of party reforms and development projects, his transformation from a political heir to a formidable leader stands out. With the 2026 Lok Sabha delimitation and the NDA’s One Nation, One Election proposal on the horizon, Lokesh’s role as a bridge between Andhra Pradesh and the central government may position him as a key player in India’s political landscape.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
