Nara Lokesh begins TDP’s Yuva Galam padayatra at Kuppam

KUPPAM: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary Nara Lokesh began his Yuva Galam padayatra at exactly 11:03 am in Kuppam on Friday. Before embarking on the epic foot march, Lokesh participated in a special puja at Sri Varadaraja Swamy Temple near Kuppam in Chittoor district.

Lokesh is scheduled to walk across the length and breadth of the state for 4,000 km over 400 days. The TDP leader will meet the youth of the state and closely interact with the public as part of his Yuva Galam padayatra. On the first day of his yatra on Friday, Lokesh is scheduled to walk for about 8.5 km.

Lokesh reached Kuppam on Thursday evening. Before leaving his house in Hyderabad, he took the blessings of his parents, TDP President Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Bhuvaneswari. After his wife applied tilakam on his forehead wishing him success, his uncle and Tollywood hero Nandamuri Balakrishna gave him a sendoff by personally escorting him to his convoy.

Several TDP leaders and party activists have been assigned the task of supervising the arrangements during Lokesh's padayatra. The yatra, which started in Kuppam, will culminate in Ichchapuram of Srikakulam district, covering 4,000 km.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Kuppam for a brief while in the morning when reports claimed that a few persons, allegedly YSRCP activists, tore off the posters and flex banners of the TDP. With tempers running high and a possible clash between the YSRCP and TDP workers appearing on the horizon, policemen were deployed in heavy numbers to preempt any untoward incidents. The incident, as claimed by the reports, happened before Lokesh began his padayatra.