Nara Lokesh, son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party National General Secretary, is most likely to be inducted into State Cabinet. The forthcoming Cabinet expansion will also see a few new entries and some exits, according to a highly placed source in the Chief Minister’s Office.
“Ministry to Mr. Lokesh is long overdue. There has been a demand from within the party to bring him into the Cabinet. As per the initial information, he may be given IT or Industries portfolios or both. The decision will be taken soon after the current Budget session. The new Cabinet is likely to be formed by Ugadi,” said the sources.
The CM himself is understood to have discussed the matter and hinted at it at a Telangana TDP meet that took place in Hyderabad on Thursday night.
When contacted, Mr. Lokesh sounded positive about the news and said, “Whatever responsibility the party gives me, I will take it up.”
There has been a demand from partymen to make Mr. Lokesh a Minister. Earlier, some of the enthusiasts had even expressed their willingness to resign their MLA constituency to pave the way for the young leader’s entry into Assembly. Sources however indicate that Mr. Lokesh may not be running for direct election. He could be nominated as MLC as elections for the Legislative Council are due shortly.
Mr. Lokesh’s induction has been in the air for several months now ever since the neighbouring Telangana State Chief Minister KCR’s son K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) was made Cabinet Minister. On several occasions, parallels have been drawn with leaders such as KTR and Akhilesh Yadav.
Responding to such comparisons, Mr. Lokesh had earlier said, “I’m at least 10 years younger than both the leaders and I want to evolve in the party, fall a couple of times and learn my own lessons before taking up bigger roles.”
The Cabinet expansion is also likely to spell doom to a couple of Ministers over performance.
