TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh and brother-inlaw Balakrishna are likely to be given places of prominence in the party soon.
Sources in the party said one of the ideas being considered is to anoint film actor Balakrishna as secretary general, a new position that suggests a status equal to that of the party president.
Lokesh would be made a general secretary. Naidu will very soon convene a meeting of the TDP’s extended executive to announce the inductions.
While keeping things within the family, the induction of Balakrishna, a son of party founder N T Rama Rao, in an apex position would make him a counterweight to another NTR son, Harikrishna, who is a member of the party politburo.
Lokesh’s induction at this juncture, party sources say, is a move by Naidu to counter the growing influence of Harikrishna’s son NTR Jr, another film actor, who bears a startling likeness to the party founder.
Naidu is said to have an uncomfortable relationship with Hariskrishna and NTR Jr, although they are family too. Balakrishna’s induction into the upper echelons has been imminent ever since the defection of Gudivada MLA Kodali Nani to the YSR Congress.
Nani is a filial figure to NTR Jr and, when he left TDP, Balakrishna stepped in to bring his rival Ravi Venkateswara Rao into the party.
Stepping up his political activities, Balakrishna is planning to tour the state starting with a visit to his father’s birth place of Nimmakuru in Krishna district. Lokesh’s own political initiation has gathered pace. He was addressing the people in Naidu’s native village of Naravaripalle on Wednesday
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