Gulte News
TDP scion Nara Lokesh resumed his padayatra ‘Yuva Galam’ this morning from Podalaada in Razole Assembly constituency. Following the arrest of TDP boss and his father N. Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the Skill Development case, Lokesh abandoned his yatra, 79 days ago.
With the AP High Court issuing a regular bail, the TDP cadre received the much required boost to their energy level. With renewed spirits, Lokesh and the party cadre will now cover Konaseema districts and then proceed towards North Andhra.
The YCP government leveled many charges against Naidu in Skill Development Case and also in connection with the Inner Ring Road Alignment Case. The CID which framed the charges against Naidu kept dragging the cases for two full months presenting evidence in reams of documents. However, the court feels that there was no concrete evidence to prove Naidu was involved in the embezzlement of funds in connection with the Skill Development Case. Significantly, all the other accused in the case were out on bail, in the past itself.
The CID also framed charges against Lokesh and named him as A-14 in the Inner Ring Road Alignment case. He was also charged in the FiberNet scam case. A couple of months ago, there was buzz that he also would be arrested but Lokesh secured an anticipatory bail.
For some time, Lokesh had to do rounds of Delhi to find a way out of the corruption cases filed against him and his father.
The rousing reception to Naidu, once he was out on bail on medical grounds, was a shot in the arm for the TDP cadre. In the wake of the huge response from the public towards their party boss, the TDP leaders are now trying to woo the voters, participating in the campaign with vigour.
According to information, there is a change in Lokesh’s padayatra schedule too. As it would take a long time to reach Itchapuram in Srikakulam district, as planned earlier, Lokesh has thoughts to end his yatra in Visakhapatnam. Lokesh’s yatra will enter undivided Visakhapatnam district via Tuni. With the elections in Andhra Pradesh likely to be held in March or April next year, Lokesh has plans to end his yatra before the poll schedule.
Lokesh is likely to lambast the YCP government full throttle following the clean chit given by the court both to him and his father. It is to be noted that there will be huge support from Janasena to padaytara, since both the parties are in alliance.
Lokesh had commenced his padayatra on January 27 and covered a distance of 2,852.4 km in 208 days. During the yatra, he has covered 84 Assembly constituencies in nine erstwhile undivided districts and addressed public meetings at 66 places.
