NARA LOKESH

Nara Lokesh, born on January 23, 1983, is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister for Information Technology, Communication, and Industries in the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He is the son of N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Lokesh has previously held roles as

Minister for Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, and IT and Communication through his position as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC).

He faced significant criticism for not contesting elections and joining his father’s cabinet directly. However, after substantial backlash, he decided to run for the Mangalagiri Assembly Constituency in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections but lost to Alla Ramakrishna Reddy of the YSR Congress Party. In the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, he was elected as the MLA for Mangalagiri.

Both Nara Lokesh and his father, Chandrababu Naidu, experienced a significant political defeat in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, where the TDP secured only 23 of the 175 available seats, marking its worst performance ever. In the 2024 Indian general elections, the TDP, in alliance with the Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, achieved a major victory by winning 164 seats, with the TDP alone securing 135 of those seats.

EDUCATION:

Nara Lokesh was born on January 23, 1983, in Hyderabad, Telangana (formerly part of Andhra Pradesh) into a Telugu family. He is the son of Nara Chandrababu Naidu and his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari. Lokesh holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.

AWARDS:

In 2018, Nara Lokesh was honored with the “Skoch Person of the Year” award for his innovative application of technology in addressing issues related to drinking water supply, governance transparency, and other initiatives within his Panchayati Raj portfolio.

That same year, he received the “Digital Leader of the Year” award from Business World magazine at the Business world Digital India Summit in New Delhi. This accolade recognized his exceptional use of technology in governance. Additionally, the Kalam Centre for Livable Planet Earth and Sustainable Development acknowledged Lokesh’s successful integration of technology in rural governance by awarding Andhra Pradesh the innovation award in the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development category.

In September 2018, Lokesh represented India at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Entrepreneurship Summit and the Annual Meeting of World Champions in Tianjin, China. The following month, he was the only Indian politician nominated to the WEF’s Network of Global Future Councils (NGFC), an interdisciplinary group focused on agile governance in relation to emerging technologies and business models.

CAREER:

Nara Lokesh began his political career with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). In 2014, he was appointed TDP’s General Secretary and became a member of the Politburo, the party’s highest decision-making body. In this role, he managed party operations, engaged with party workers and citizens, and contributed to shaping party policies and strategies.

In January 2013, Lokesh claimed that the Direct Benefit Transfer System, introduced by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, was based on a proposal submitted by TDP to the central government. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Council in 2017. Despite never winning a direct election, he held several significant positions within both the party and the Andhra Pradesh government. His father, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, appointed him as a cabinet minister for IT, Panchayati Raj, and Rural Development in 2017.

In 2019, Lokesh ran for the Mangalagiri constituency but lost by a narrow margin of 5,337 votes to Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, a close associate of Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Lokesh is recognized for his successful management of TDP’s membership drive, which added five million members. The use of digital technology in this initiative, including tablets, live data feeds, and a real-time dashboard, was a pioneering approach for enrolling and managing party members in India.

Later Political Career

In the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, Lokesh was elected as the MLA for Mangalagiri with a majority of 91,413 votes, marking a significant achievement as the constituency had not been won by the Telugu Desam Party for 39 years. This was the third-highest majority in the assembly elections.

Following the elections, he was appointed as a Cabinet Minister in Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s government, overseeing the departments of Human Resources Development, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, and Real-Time Governance.

Padayatra:

On January 27, 2023, Lokesh launched the Yuva Galam Padayatra, a 400-day initiative aimed at engaging the youth of Andhra Pradesh. The journey covered 4,000 kilometers, stretching from Kuppam to Ichchapuram.

Development and Welfare Models:

Nara Lokesh is a trustee of the NTR Trust, which focuses on healthcare, education, skills enhancement, and disaster management. He oversees the Trust’s disaster response program, which provides aid during natural calamities. Additionally, the Trust offers insurance coverage to active party members, including 2 lakh for fatal accidents, 2 lakh for permanent disability, 1 lakh for partial disability, and 50,000 for accidental injuries.

Under Lokesh’s leadership, TDP’s online membership drive resulted in over 5.3 million new members