Nara Lokesh has walked about 2,500 km so far, covering the entire Rayalaseema region, and entering coastal Andhra two months ago.
The lack of presence of TDP MPs Galla Jayadev and Kesineni Srinivas at Lokesh's padayatra has aroused suspicion among party cadres. (Wikimedia Commons)
Of the three Opposition TDP MPs in Andhra Pradesh, two have been conspicuous by their absence during party scion and general secretary Nara Lokesh’s mega 4,000 km-plus Yuva Galam (Voice of Youth) padayatra.
Lokesh‘s padayatra is being seen as an attempt to pump up morale among the party cadre who have been in disarray ever since the TDP faced its worst drubbing at the hands of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP in the 2019 polls.
And it seems to be working, at least in certain pockets, given the overwhelming response of party cadres to the Yuva Galam.
Nara Lokesh has walked some 2,500 km so far and has covered the entire Rayalaseema region, and entered coastal Andhra Pradesh two months ago. After traversing through the Nellore, Prakasam, and Guntur districts, Lokesh is now at the end of the Krishna district, ready to enter West Godavari in a day or two.
However, TDP MPs from Guntur and Vijayawada — Galla Jayadev and Kesnineni Srinivas (Nani), respectively — had given the padayatra a total miss, which has now become a talking point in Andhra politics.
Incidentally, both these MPs, who withstood the “Jagan wave” and won in 2019 polls, belong to the Kamma community that is identified with the TDP. Both Guntur and Vijayawada’s periphery are known as strong Kamma belts.
The Amaravati capital region, where the farmers have been agitating for almost three years now against the Jagan government’s proposal to have three capitals, also falls in Galla Jayadev’s Lok Sabha segment.
Both Krishna and Guntur districts, which have rich, fertile soil of the Krishna delta, have been bastions of the TDP, especially due to the presence of wealthy Kamma landlords and big farmers.
Galla Jayadev, known for his fiery speeches in English in the Lok Sabha, has been conspicuous by his absence from the political arena of the state for quite some time. Fondly called Jay Galla by his associates, he has been active in politics since before the 2014 polls.
Such a conspicuous absence has triggered speculation that Galla, who comes from an influential political family and is a third-generation politician from Chittoor district, is contemplating quitting active politics and may not contest in the 2024 polls.
Those who keenly watch Andhra politics point out that he has been maintaining a low profile ever since the YSRCP government had served closure notices to two factories of Amara Raja batteries, promoted by Jay Galla’s family in Chittoor, and the controversy that followed.
In 2021, Jay Galla and 12 others, including his parents Galla Aruna Kumari and Galla Ramachandra Naidu, were booked by Chittoor police for alleged land grabbing by the Amara Raja Group.
On a local court’s directions, an FIR was registered under various sections by the Thavanampalle police station in Chittoor district against Galla family members. The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) also served closure notices to Amara Raja units for allegedly violating of pollution norms.
Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL), the flagship company of the Amara Raja Group, promoted by the Galla family, is one of the largest manufacturers of lead-acid batteries for both industrial and automotive applications in the Indian storage battery industry.
ARBL has also unveiled grand plans to diversify into lithium ion battery making, in collaboration with the Indian government’s research institutes. Currently, ARBL has manufacturing facilities at Karakambadi and Nunegundlapalli in Chittoor district.
Recently, ABRL launched a facility in Telangana, which had triggered a political slugfest in the state.
TDP alleged that ABRL’s Telangana investment was supposedly first contemplated in Andhra Pradesh. However due to the alleged vendetta politics by the YSRCP government, it had shifted its investment to Telangana.
Another MP, Kesineni Srinivas, fondly called Nani, who represents the Vijayawada Lok Sabha segment, has not been as active in the Andhra political scene as he used to be in the past.
The TDP leadership had also roped in Nani’s brother Siva Narayana (Chinni) into party activities for a few months. Chinni has been actively involved in the party’s activities and programmes, leaving his brother high and dry.
Yuva Galam’s Vijayawada programme activities were also entrusted to Chinni, instead of Nani. Several meetings and road shows were also held in Krishna district, especially in Vijayawada town, in which large-scale mobilisation of men had happened.
In all this, Nani was totally ignored by TDP leadership. In turn, Nani seems to have also given a total miss to Lokesh’s padayatra.
Nani had also been facing a hostile situation in Vijayawada for some time from the party’s local leaders, like Buddha Venkanna.
“It’s only three Lok Sabha segments that the TDP could win in the 2019 polls, and there too the margins were thin. Now, two of those three are keeping a distance from the party, which is definitely a setback. With politics in Andhra Pradesh becoming an expensive affair, finding a wealthy MP candidate is not an easy job,” pointed out a political commentator.
Galla Jayadev, who won with a majority of 69,222 votes in 2014 polls over YSRCP’s Balashowry Vallabhaneni, had squeezed through with only a slender margin of 4,205 votes in 2019. He won over YSRCP’s Modugula Venugopala Reddy in the 2019 polls.
Kesineni Nani’s 74,862 votes majority in the 2014 polls had dropped to 8,726 votes in the 2019 election. He won over YSRCP’s Koneru Rajendra Prasad in the 2014 polls and Potluri V Prasad of YSRCP in the 2019 polls.
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