Yuva Galam Padayatra

Yuva Galam (Lit: ‘Voice of the Youth’), is a mass contact movement led by Telugu Desam Party popularly known as TDP. National General Secretary of TDP Nara Lokesh is undertaking the walkathon to engage the youth of Andhra Pradesh, encourage them to become active participants in the state's political process and join in him in raising their voice fearlessly.

On 27 January 2023, Nara Lokesh started the Yuva Galam Padayatra with a plan to cover 100 Assembly constituencies in the state of Andhra Pradesh with a road map to walk 4,000 km from Kuppam to Srikakulam. The walkathon is to rally support for the TDP for the Andhra assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The main aim of the padayatra is said to restore the credibility of the TDP as alternative to the ruling party and to showcase its commitment to addressing the issues faced by the people of Andhra Pradesh. The ongoing padayatra is planned to be the longest in the political history of Andhra Pradesh. The padayatra is currently moving up the Andhra coast after completing the foot march in the Rayalaseema Region.

Background
The 40-year-old Stanford graduate TDP general secretary, whom Mr. Naidu is trying to groom as his political successor, faces an uphill task in proving his leadership qualities. The son of Chandrababu Naidu, Lokesh is a young political scion of the important Naidu family. To TDP supporters, Lokesh is their  'Chinna Babu' (Junior Babu).

The 2019 state legislative assembly election loss by a small margin of 5,200 votes was a setback to his political career's first election. Political observers say it will be an acid test for Lokesh to emerge as a leader of caliber and live up to the standards set by senior TDP leadership. In a brave move, in 2019 he contested from Mangalagiri, a constituency incumbent with the YSRCP and added that "There is no point in searching for a safe seat".

After the elections, specifically after COVID lockdown, Lokesh went for an image makeover. The burly-looking leader shed some weight, grew a beard and changed his body language. Following the footsteps of his political predecessors such as YS Rajashekara Reddy, N Chandrababu Naidu, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and Rahul Gandhi, Lokesh embarked on the 4,000 km-long state-wide padayatra from Kuppam constituency on 27 January 2023. The padayatra is said to pass through at least 100 assembly constituencies to connect with people at the grassroots level, understand their issues and also to mold him into a mass leader. As of 9 July 2023, the Padayatra has successfully reached over 150 days.

Public Events
While the padayatra is going on, Lokesh is actively indulging in hearing out people’s problems by holding face-to-face meetings with various communities in each constituency. The youth leader is meeting with farmers, youth, women, Muslims, BCs, SCs, STs, traders, IT professionals and other communities to understand their problems.

Milestones
Nara Lokesh has been making promises at various milestones of the Yuva Galam padayatra. The Youth leader claims that there was lot of research and discussion behind these promises and swore to implement them as soon as TDP comes to power. Here are the promises that have been announced by him:

Public Reception
The youth movement continued uninterrupted except on unavoidable occasions like Tarakaratna's death, the MLC election code, Ugadi and Mahanadu. The Yuva Galam attracted a lot of attention from both the mainstream and social media right from the start. In many places, people joined Nara Lokesh in large numbers on his Padayatra.

Political strategists say much has changed in Lokesh, from the maturity in his speeches such as emphasizing 'Babu is the CM' to playing it safe by using  'Jagan Mohan, Donga Mohan' strategically in his speeches in order to not hurt the Reddy community. However, despite the natural style of articulation, at Gudur, Lokesh faced a mental block while delivering a speech on the government farmer policies.

Critics have alleged that Nara Lokesh replicated Jagan's Padayatra in a manner that closely mimicked the Praja Sankalpa Yatra, including shot-for-shot recreations and identical camera angles from where the photographs were captured. Critics also pointed out that, Nara Lokesh is imitating the immoral language used by Kodali Nani and Perni Nani. However, Nara Lokesh’s language attracted mixed opinions, neither good nor bad.

The party claims to have received 2000+ written petitions from the people through the Yuva Galam Padayatra, but people are not being kept in the loop. A farmer from Hindupuram commented that they want to know what they are doing to his requests as there was no response.

Despite facing significant challenges, the TDP Supremo's son acknowledges the Padayatra's crucial role in the TDP's triumph in the MLC elections held in the three constituencies reserved for graduates, indicating a favorable response from the public.

Controversies
Since its commencement, Nara Lokesh's padayatra has been embroiled in controversies within the Telugu state. The unfortunate demise of actor Tarakaratna, who is Nara Lokesh's cousin, further added to the controversy surrounding the padayatra.

Enactment of GO No.1
A week before the launch of Yuva Galam padayatra, The state government issued GO No. 1 imposing restrictions on public meetings creating hurdles to the yatra. During the course of Padayatra, the power supply was cut and DJ vans were seized at several places including Bangarupalem, Chittoor district, supposedly to cause troubles in the Padayatra. On other instances, the police reportedly grabbed the mike from Basha, a TDP activist, and pushed Lokesh down the bench he was standing on to address the local activists.

Deployment of Drones
During the initial days of the padayatra, there were allegations that the Government deployed drones in the context of security. These drones were allegedly used to take visuals in case of violations which could be used to testify in the court. But then, TDP cadres alleged that the visuals taken by these drones are being sent to YSR Congress’s social media cell and Sakshi.

Lokesh's allegations on YSRCP leaders
On the sidelines of his ongoing Yuva Galam padayatra at Alur in Kurnool district, Nara Lokesh alleged that Gummanur Jayaram- the Benz minister had grabbed 180 acres of prime land belonging to Ittina company. Though the lands grabbed by the ex-minister were commercial in nature, they were shown as agricultural lands and later registered in the names of the family members of Gummanur Jayaram. To substantiate his allegations, the TDP leader released several documents.

Lokesh's allegation on Waqf Board land grabbing
Situation took an unexpected turn when Nara Lokesh found himself facing a complaint filed by members of the Muslim Hakkula Parirakshana Samithi. The complaint alleged that Lokesh had made accusations against Kurnool MLA Hafeez Khan, claiming that Khan had unlawfully acquired Waqf Board lands. In their complaint, the office bearers of the Muslim Hakkula Parirakshana Samithi, said Lokesh should desist from levelling allegations against the MLA Hafeez Khan without evidence.

Mishaps during Padayatra
During the padayatra, an auto driver who accompanied Nara Lokesh became the target of trolling when his shoes, resembling Adidas footwear, were used to discredit the participants of the padayatra. In response, the auto driver clarified that the shoes were counterfeit products. Despite his explanation, the trolls swiftly attempted to undermine his credibility.

Similarly, during the Padayatra in Proddatur, Andhra Pradesh's YSR Kadapa district, some miscreants targeted the padayatra by throwing eggs at Nara Lokesh and his team.

Padayatra Break
Nara Lokesh gave a break to the Yuva Galam Padayatra for two days on 13 and 14 July to testify for a defamation case before the district magistrate against the AP Forest Corporation Chairman Gurrampati Devender Reddy for allegedly accusing Lokesh of being responsible for the suicide of Kanthamaneni Umamaheswari by grabbing her 5 acres of land in Jubilee Hills and MLC Sunitha for allegedly calling out Heritage foods as 'Sara industry' (Cheap local liquor Industry).