The 226-day long “Yuva Galam” (voice of the youth) padayatra of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh concluded at Shivajinagar of Gajuwaka assembly constituency in Visakhapatnam on Monday with the 41-year-old leader holding a meeting with the workers of Vizag Steel Plant (VSP) and expressing his solidarity with them in their fight against privatisation of the steel plant.
The padayatra, which started from Kuppam in Chittoor district on January 27, covered 3,132 km close to across 100 assembly constituencies in 11 combined districts of Andhra Pradesh, with intermittent breaks, including a 50-day break during the arrest of his father and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development scam case between September 9 to October 31.
According to a party statement, Lokesh participated in 70 public meetings, 155 face-to-face meetings, 12 special interactive sessions, and eight public platform meetings to understand the public issues during the Yuvagalam Padayatra.
“He also received 4,353 written petitions from the public, and millions of people directly met the young leader and shared their problems. Nearly 15 million people connected with Nara Lokesh during the 226-day-long padayatra,” the party statement said.
On the final day of the Yuva Galam padayatra, Lokesh’s mother Nara Bhuvaneswari and other family members, along with thousands of TDP leaders, joined the young leader as he achieved a historic milestone.
{{/usCountry}}On the final day of the Yuva Galam padayatra, Lokesh’s mother Nara Bhuvaneswari and other family members, along with thousands of TDP leaders, joined the young leader as he achieved a historic milestone.
{{/usCountry}}Interacting with the steel plant workers, the TDP general secretary said his party would strongly oppose the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. “Soon after our party comes to power, we shall certainly raise our voice in Parliament against the move,” he said.
The TDP general secretary also met the representatives of Padmashali community (weavers) at Durgapuram bus stand and heard their grievances. He reminded that during the TDP regime, the then government had waived the loans of handloom weavers to the extent of ₹110 crore and extended them subsidies on raw material purchase.
“Once we are back in power TIDCO houses will be built for the handloom workers in urban areas and common working sheds with all necessary basic needs will be set up. This apart 200 units free power will be supplied to them,” Lokesh asserted.
The party statement said a public rally would be held at Nellimarla in Vizianagaram district on December 20 to celebrate the completion of the historic padayatra of Lokesh. “Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena Party president and actor Pawan Kalyan and senior leaders of both the parties will attend the rally which will be attended by millions of people,” TDP Andhra unit president K Atchannaidu said.