If the Election Commission of India has its way, the much-publicised padayatra being undertaken by Telugu Desam Party general secretary and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh will come to a halt, albeit for a few weeks.
Reason: the EC has announced the schedule for the conduct of the biennial elections to the state legislative council on Thursday for the vacancies arising under the local bodies’ quota, graduates’ quota and teachers’ quota.
The model code of conduct immediately came into force immediately and it will be in force till the election process is completed on March 21. The polling will be held on March 13 and the results will be announced in March 16.
Now, this schedule is all set to put brakes on the ambitious padayatra of Lokesh. At present, his padayatra, which has covered nearly 170 km, passing is passing through Chittoor district and would enter Nellore district.
Since Lokesh is making all sorts of promises during his padayatra and is making strong comments against the government, it would definitely influence the voters in these districts, impacting the MLC elections.
That is precisely why Chittoor district collector Harinarayanan wrote to chief electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena, who in turn wrote to the Election Commission of India, to give clarity on whether Lokesh’s padayatra could be allowed.
At the same time, the election schedule may bring to halt the ongoing Gadapa Gadapaku Prabhutvam programme of the YSR Congress party, which is aimed at bringing the achievements of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government to the doorstep of the people.
If the EC takes a call on these issues, the TDP general secretary might have to put a full stop to his padayatra at least till March 21 when the code ends.
It may be mentioned that even during the local body elections in Telangana last year, YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila had to halt the padayatra for a few months due to election code.
