Telugu Deam Party (TDP) national general secretary N. Lokesh was accorded a grand welcome on the Prakasam barrage here upon his entry into NTR district as part of his Yuva Galam padayatra on August 19 evening.
Earlier, Mr. Lokesh unveiled a plaque upon reaching the 2,500-km milestone of his long march at Undavalli in Mangalagiri Assembly constituency.
Former Ministers Prathipati Pulla Rao, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Kollu Ravindra, Nakka Ananda Babu and Kanna Lakshminarayana, former MLAs Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, Bode Prasad, Tenali Sravan Kumar and Yarapatineni Srinivasa Rao, and Kesineni Sivanath (Chinni) and other leaders gave a rousing reception as Mr. Lokesh wrapped up his walkathon in Guntur district and entered Vijayawada West Assembly constituency.
August 19 was the 189th day of the padayatra, during which Mr. Lokesh had been constantly hitting out at the YSRCP government’s alleged failures and narrating what his party planned to do if voted to power in the 2024 elections.
Thousands of party activists followed Mr. Lokesh as he started walking through the busy thoroughfares of the Vijayawada West, Central and East constituencies represented by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MLAs V. Srinivas and Malladi Vishnu, and TDP’s Gadde Rammohan Rao.
The police were deployed in large numbers in anticipation of trouble as tempers had been running high between the YSRCP and TDP over Mr. Lokesh’s criticism of the government’s failures and the promises being made by him to the electorate.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Lokesh resumed his padayatra at his residence on the Undavalli Karakatta Road, and would be staying at the A-Convention Centre for the night after walking for a total 13.30 km.
