ONGOLE: A Day after TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh announced that the party would prioritise youth in the Assembly elections, several leaders in the party could not agree more even as it raised the hopes of youngsters in the party.
On day two of TDP’s annual conclave, Mahanadu, some leaders and cadre, who attended the event, stressed that youth should be prioritised in the party in a way that they can take on the ruling YSRC. Pointing towards the mammoth turnout at the conclave, T Hanumatha Rao from Addanki constituency said, “This is a very good sign. We hope the leaders will continue the tempo in our cadre until the affection gets converted into votes in the election.”
Some others opined that the event’s success might have given the party a much-needed boost to contest the 2024 polls, but the leadership should continue to take up issues concerning the people. On Saturday, after party leaders paid floral tributes to TDP founder and legendary actor NT Rama Rao, TNIE interacted with them to understand the party’s political pulse post Lokesh’s comments on not giving tickets to leaders who lose three consecutive elections and giving more importance to the youth.
Three lakh people have attended the two-day conclave, TDP spokesperson K Pattabhi said, adding, “People are fed up with YSRC government’s deceptive policies. They are eagerly waiting to bring back Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP to power.” Stating that more youngsters at the party’s helm and for policy making would benefit TDP and the State in the long run, he explained, “Replacing seniors, who lost elections three consecutive times, with youngsters will do good for the party and change the entire political scenario for the next four decades.” Amid all the discussions, one question that arose is, what does the term ‘youth’ mean? The TDP’s fresh perspective has got people wondering whether families of senior leaders or freshers would be given seats.
“We are exhilarated over the new policy. But it should be implemented without any exemptions and the seats should be allocated to young activists, who really work hard for the party, rather than the kin of senior leaders,” Mahesh from Visakhapatnam opined.
“Our leaders always speak about the party’s social engineering. But they don’t really follow it in a way the ruling YSRC does. Why didn’t our party offer a Rajya Sabha seat to a BC-Yadav community leader? Not just that, but even now TDP is not ready to allocate majority seats to the BC, SC, ST and Minority sections. This is what we really need right now. We have to share power positions to majority vote bank with good social engineering plans. It might help increase our chances and definitely we will win the elections,” Anjaiah from Prakasam district pointed out.
Ramu Nayak from Vinukonda (Guntur district) strongly believes that the TDP will retain power in the 2024 polls. “We have some local leadership problems, but if the high command addresses them and all leaders will fight unitedly, TDP’s return to power is not impossible,” he said and stressed that party leaders should respect the cadre and also consider their opinions.
‘TDP has to share positions with majority vote banks to win’
Our leaders always speak about the party’s social engineering. But they don’t really follow it in a way the YSRC does. Why didn’t our party offer a Rajya Sabha seat to a BC-Yadav community leader? This is what we really need right now. We have to share power positions with majority vote banks, Anjaiah, a member of TDP cadre said