lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 09, 2019 19:11 IST

Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is pulling out all the stops to return to power for a second term in Thursday’s elections to the state assembly, roped in his daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani, granddaughter of legendary actor and TDP founder N T Rama Rao, into the party’s campaign.

Brahmani, a post-graduate in business management from the Stanford University, has been heading Heritage Foods, the business enterprise of Naidu family for the last five years and had never shown any interest in politics till now.

But with the TDP facing a tough fight from the YSR Congress party headed by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in the upcoming elections, Naidu was forced to bring her into the electioneering for his son Nara Lokesh in Mangalagiri assembly constituency in Guntur district. Lok Sabha elections for the state’s 25 seats are also being held on Thursday.

“Apparently, Naidu realized that Brahmani could be the party’s trump card to win the elections in Mangalagiri, especially since Lokesh has proved to be a dull campaigner. It is his first electoral battle and he has not been able to attract much response from the crowds, because he is neither articulate nor aggressive like his father,” M Sambasiva Rao, senior journalist and an independent analyst said.

Also read: Lok Sabha elections 2019: ‘Today, BJP is the greatest threat to our democracy,’ says Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu

A senior TDP leader said Naidu had to bring in his talkative and young daughter-in-law to save Lokesh the blushes. “After all, she is the granddaughter of NTR and daughter of Balakrishna. She has the glamour quotient that would definitely help the party,” he said.

For the last two days, Brahmani has been aggressively campaigning for her husband Nara Lokesh in Mangalagiri and also for TDP candidate for Guntur Lok Sabha seat Galla Jayadev. “She has the simplicity and is very straight in her talk. She has been able to convey the message of the party to the people effectively,” Rao said.

Her rallies have been a big hit as the response from the crowds was tremendous. “Vote for my husband as an MLA and give us three months’ time. You are going to see how Mangalagiri town will get a complete makeover,” she said, at a road show in the town on Monday night.

Occasionally using her business language, Brahmani pointed out that she was very much aware of the problems being faced by handloom weavers and goldsmiths in marketing their products. “We shall ensure you an access to international market like Dubai and will make Mangalagiri brand popular across the globe,” she said.

She promised that the TDP government would resolve all the problems of Mangalagiri including drinking water crisis and housing. “In the next five years, Lokesh will ensure construction of 12,000 houses for weaker sections,” she asserted.

Brahmani, who graduated as an electrical engineer from Santa Clara University, went on to study MBA in Stanford University. She returned to Hyderabad in 2014 to take over the family business after Lokesh joined active politics.