Desam asks Naidu, make Lokesh MLC

The Telugu Desam politburo has decided to make Mr Nara Lokesh, son of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, a member of the Legislative Council, paving the way for a Cabinet berth for him.

Mr Lokesh is expected to be sent to the Council under the Assembly quota.

At a meeting held at the CM’s residence in Undavalli on Sunday, the politburo members requested Mr Naidu to select the candidates. The party has received hundreds of applications for the 16 MLC seats — nine from the local bodies and seven from the MLA quota.

Mr Naidu replied that he was committed to giving nominations to a few, and there are others who have done a great deal for the party so this time both new people and senior leaders will be given MLC positions.

The politburo meeting was organised mainly to further Mr Lokesh’s chances of getting into the Cabinet, the first step being becoming a member of the Council.

For Mr Lokesh to become an MLA, any sitting party legislator would have had to resign, which might raise a new controversy. Mr Naidu has therefore decided to make Mr Lokesh an MLC, as he is not willing to wait until the 2019 general election.

Telugu Desam’s AP chief Kala Venkat Rao proposed that Mr Lokesh be made an MLC and all the other members supported him.

The politburo discussed other matters such as the targeting of Indians abroad. Mr Nandamuri Harikrishna mentioned the incident in the US and suggested that a letter be written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the safety of Telugus and Indians living abroad.

The national political scenario post-demonetisation was also discussed and it was agreed that the BJP was progressively moving forward and had proved this in the Maharashtra and Odisha civic body polls.

It was also decided that Telugu Desam.s foundation day would be organised on a grand scale. Politburo member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said that 17 issues were discussed.