HYDERABAD: Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is famed for his gift of the gab and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu has often been at the receiving end of the TRS boss’ whiplash wit. So it has fallen to Naidu son, N . Lokesh, a gen sec in the TDP, to come to his dad’s rescue in the thick of the campaigning for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.
On Sunday, the last day of canvassing for the Feb. 2 poll, the TDP scion tried to match the TRS supremo word for word.
Lokesh was stung to the quick by KCR’s wisecrack at a public meeting on Saturday that even Chandrababu Naidu's wife Bhuvaneswari, Lokesh’s mother, would support the TRS in the GHMC polls.
Lokesh took exception to the remark. "It is not proper for a chief minister to make such remarks. This is an indication that KCR is afraid of the TDP, which transformed Hyderabad into a world-class city. He is trying to create confusion among voters by claiming that my mother has confided in some TRS leaders that she would vote for the TRS," he said.
Bhuvaneswari is a businesswoman and is known keep her distance from politics.
Lokesh then turned on the acid with a sarcastic comeback of his own: "Today when we asked KCR's wife why her husband has not campaigned for the TRS in the GHMC polls, she replied that he was not able to face the people as the TRS’ contribution to Hyderabad’s growth is nil. She told us that KCR was not coming out of the house to seek votes for the TRS knowing fully well that the electors are sure to ask him about his unfulfilled poll promises."
Stepping up the TDP’s campaign on the last day, Lokesh led a huge bike rally in Hyderabad from Hi-Tec City to NTR Ghat, the former a signature landmark built by the TDP government of Naidu in 1996, and the latter a memorial to the TDP founder N T Rama Rao. Leaders from the BJP, an ally of the TDP in the election, took part in the rally.
With the campaigning set to end at 5 pm, political parties rushed through their canvassing activities, trying to reach as many voters as possible.
Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on Feb. 2 to elect representatives to 150 divisions in the GHMC, the city’s governing body. Results will be out Feb. 5.