Nara Lokesh (born 23 January 1983) is an Indian politician serving as the Minister of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications and the Human Resources Development departments in the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the General Secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He is the son of N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and leader of the TDP. Lokesh served as the Minister of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development and the Information Technology, Electronics and Communication departments from 2017 to 2019 while being elected as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in 2017.
In the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, Lokesh unsuccessfully stood as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Mangalagiri Assembly constituency. In the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, he was elected as an MLA for Mangalagiri.
Early life and Education
editNara Lokesh was born on 23 January 1983 in a Telugu family to N. Chandrababu Naidu and his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari, daughter of N. T. Rama Rao in Hyderabad, Telangana (then part of Andhra Pradesh).[4] He has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Bachelor of Science with a specialization in Management Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.[5]
Political career
editEarly political career
editLokesh started his Political Career in TDP. In 2014, Lokesh became TDP's General Secretary,[6] a member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the party. He managed the party, interacted with party workers and citizens, and helped set the party policies and strategy.[7] He claimed in January 2013 that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party derived the Direct Benefit Transfer System from a TDP proposal submitted to the central government.[8] He was first elected as the Member of Legislative Council in 2017.[9] Though he never won a direct election, he held several key positions in both party and state of Andhra Pradesh. His father N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh made appointed him as a cabinet minister for IT, Panchayati Raj and Rural development in 2017 through.[10][11][12] In 2019, he unsuccessfully contested from the Mangalagiri constituency narrowly losing by a margin of 5,337 votes[13] to Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, a close aide of Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.[14][15]
Lokesh is credited with successfully managing the TDP party's membership drive that added five million members. The digital technology used by the onboarding team – tablets, live data feeds and a real-time dashboard – was the first such use for enrolling and managing party members in the country.[16]
Development and welfare models
editLokesh is a trustee of NTR Trust for Healthcare, Education, Skills Enhancement and Disaster Management.[17] Lokesh supervise the Trust's disaster response program that functions at times of natural calamities.[17] Each active member of the party will get a personal insurance cover of ₹2 lakh in case of a fatal accident, ₹2 lakh for permanent disability, ₹1 lakh for the partially disabled, and ₹50,000 in case of accidental injuries.[18]
Lokesh-led party online membership drive fetched TDP 53+ lakh members.[19]
Padayatra
editOn 27 January 2023, Lokesh started Yuva Galam Padayatra for youth of Andhra Pradesh for 400 days with a road-map to walk 4,000 kms from Kuppam to Ichchapuram.[20][21]
Later political career
editIn 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election he was elected as MLA of Mangalagiri with a majority of 91,413 votes in the constituency which was never won by Telugu Desam Party for 39 years.[22][23] This was the third highest majority in this assembly election.[24]
Post Elections he was inducted in the Cabinet led by N. Chandrababu Naidu as Cabinet Minister with departments of Human Resources Development, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, Real Time Governance.[25][26]
Electoral history
edit| Year | Office | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | Result | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | MLA | Mangalagiri | Telugu Desam Party | 103,127 | 42.14 | Alla Ramakrishna Reddy | YSR Congress Party | 108,464 | 45.47 | Lost | [27] | ||
| 2024 | 167,710 | 66.07 | Murugudu Lavanya | 76,297 | 30.06 | Won | [28] | ||||||
Awards and recognition
editLokesh won the "Skoch Person of the Year" award in 2018, for his innovative use of technology while resolving issues related to drinking water supply, transparency in governance, and other activities under his Panchayati Raj portfolio.[29]
In May 2018, he won the Business World magazine "Digital Leader of the Year" at the Businessworld Digital India summit in New Delhi. The award recognises the best utilisation of technology in governance.[30] The same year, the Kalam Centre for Livable Planet Earth and Sustainable Development recognised Lokesh's efforts in the successful integration of technology in rural governance and awarded the innovation award to Andhra Pradesh in the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development category.[31]
In September 2018, Lokesh was invited to represent India at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Entrepreneurship Summit and Annual Meeting of World Champions in Tianjin, China.[32] In the following month, he became the only Indian politician to be nominated to the WEF's Network of Global Future Councils (NGFC), an interdisciplinary knowledge group that deliberates on agile governance in terms of emerging technologies and business models.[33]
Personal life
editIn 2007, Lokesh married Nandamuri Bramhani,[34] elder daughter of actor and politician, Nandamuri Balakrishna.[5][35] The couple have a son, Nara Devaansh.[36]
References
edit- ^ "Nara Lokesh: Ideological, political heir to NT Rama Rao's legacy". India TV News. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "Nara Lokesh Son Name Devaansh". page3hyd.in. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Sundar, M. V. Syam (19 June 2024). "People throng Undavalli residence to meet Lokesh". www.thehansindia.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ "Who is Nara Lokesh, the MBA from Stanford, behind TDP's resurgence in Andhra Pradesh?". Firstpost. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ a b Janyala, Sreenivas (16 February 2009). "Their fathers' sons". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "After 226 days and 3,132 km, Lokesh ends yatra". The Times of India. 19 December 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ "Lokesh emerges as No. 2 in TDP". The Times of India. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Times of AP Rahul stole my idea says Lokesh Nara 1 January 2013
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh CM's son, six others elected to Legislative Council unanimously". The New Indian Express. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "In the Heir: Dynasty Politics in the TDP Seem Headed for a 'Sonset'". The Wire. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ "Chandrababu Naidu's son Nara Lokesh takes oath as Minister". The Hindu. 2 April 2017. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh CM's son, six others elected to Legislative Council unanimously". The New Indian Express. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh assembly elections: Narrow margin of defeat key reason for TDP picking Mangalagiri for Nara Lokesh | Vijayawada News - Times of India". The Times of India. TNN. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ "Andhra Assembly polls: TDP's Nara Lokesh loses to YSR Congress's Ramakrishna Reddy". India Today. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Andhra Assembly polls: TDP's Nara Lokesh loses to YSR Congress's Ramakrishna Reddy". India Today. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ PTI (3 November 2014). "TDP launches membership enrolment drive; to enroll members from neighbouring states". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ a b "Minister for Andhra Pradesh presents business opportunities to Atlanta companies". Khabar Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "TDP launches membership enrolment drive & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 3 November 2014.
- ^ "Nara Lokesh driving TDP government for Papa Chandrababu Naidu & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 3 January 2015.
- ^ "Yuvagalam Padayatra: Nara Lokesh interacts with local farmers at Santhipuram weekend shandy". The Times of India. 29 January 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "Restrain cops from disrupting Yuva Galam Padayatra: TDP". The New Indian Express. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ https://results.eci.gov.in/AcResultGenJune2024/ConstituencywiseS0187.htm [bare URL]
- ^ Annam, Bandhavi (9 June 2024). "Lokesh wins with 90k majority in Mangalagiri". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ Ilyas, M. D. (7 June 2024). "Pawan and Lokesh in top 10 'majorities' Jagan in 20th place and Naidu at 36th slot". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Ministers List 2024: Pawan Kalyan, Nara Lokesh among 24 ministers in Chandrababu Naidu's Cabinet". The Indian Express. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ Service, Express News (15 June 2024). "Andhra Pradesh: Nara Lokesh to focus on strengthening education system in rural areas". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Andhra Assembly polls: TDP's Nara Lokesh loses to YSR Congress's Ramakrishna Reddy". India Today. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ M, Sambasiva Rao (4 June 2024). "Andhra Assembly polls: TDP sweeps Guntur district, Nara Lokesh wins an Assembly seat for the first time". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Lokesh wins 'Skoch Person of the Year- Governance' award". The New Indian Express. 20 June 2018.
- ^ ANI (18 May 2018). "Nara Lokesh receives award for 'Digital Leader of the Year'". Business Standard.
- ^ Reporter, Staff (20 January 2018). "Lokesh receives innovation in governance award". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ ENS (13 September 2018). "Nara Lokesh on 6-day investment hunt, to take part in World Economic Forum meet in China'". The New Indian Express.
- ^ WEF (12 November 2018). "Global Future Council on Agile'". World Economic Forum.
- ^ "Brahmini-Lokesh Wedding Function". www.ragalahari.com. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ "In last-ditch attempt, Naidu inducts daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani into TDP's campaign". 9 April 2019.
- ^ "Chandrababu Naidu's daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani, son ride Hyderabad Metro". The Times of India. 19 August 2019.