At the India Today Conclave 2025, Andhra Pradesh IT and Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh spoke at length about his journey of becoming a full-time politician and his state’s future.
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00:00Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. We have a very special guest with us at
00:06the moment. He is the face of the next generation of the Telugu Desam. He is one
00:14of the most important ministers at the moment in the government in Andhra Pradesh.
00:19Please welcome Nara Lokesh, Minister for IT, Electronics and Human Resources
00:27in the government of Andhra Pradesh. Thank you very much Lokesh for joining us.
00:32I must confess when I see you today I feel very old. I interviewed your late
00:38grandfather in the early 1990s, the legendary N.T. Ramarao, then your father
00:44who's now a four-time Chief Minister and now the grandson. How easy is it to come
00:51out of the shadows of NTR and Chandrababu Naidu and establish an identity for
00:57yourself? Are you still seen or do you still see yourself as the son of
01:02Chandrababu Naidu and the grandson of NTR in public life? Thank you Rajdeep,
01:08thanks for having me here. The first question is a curveball clearly. It's not
01:14a curveball. No, I see myself as a Karekarta of Telugu Desam party. So once
01:20the Karekartas and the leaders agree to it and when they believe I'm ready, I'm
01:24ready. Saying that of course you know coming from a political background, being
01:29a third-generation politician, it just makes it ten times harder and having a
01:35leader like Mr. Naidu is not an easy task. He's a taskmaster, he expects us to
01:41deliver at the same order that he delivers and I think that's what makes
01:46this entire journey even more rewarding for me personally. So he doesn't treat
01:49you as a son, he treats you as the Karekarta, you've got to prove yourself.
01:53I'm actually at a greater disadvantage because I get to see him every day. So if
02:01he's upset on anything, the first person who's going to hear it is me. So I'm
02:05actually at a greater disadvantage than any other leader in my party. But I have
02:08to ask you, what does a graduate from Carnegie Mellon, one of the world's best
02:12universities, then goes to Stanford, does an MBA, do in the heat and dust of
02:17Andhra Pradesh? Can't be easy making that transition. Do you believe you finally
02:22made that transition successfully? Are you completely comfortable now in the
02:27bad lands of Andhra Pradesh when it comes to politics? I mean a Carnegie
02:32Mellon undergrad, a Stanford MBA is for India and a Padi Yatra was for
02:38Bharat. So I did a Padi Yatra and I really understood my motherland far
02:44better. I've come to understand the nuances far better. I'm able to connect
02:48to issues far better. So I truly believe that the transition is complete and I'm
02:53able to contribute in Mr. Naidu's cabinet quite successfully. Was the Padi Yatra
02:59the turning point? 2023, 226 day Padi Yatra, more than 3,000 kilometers is what
03:05Nara Lokesh traveled at the time. It transformed your image. Was that the
03:11moment where you realized now this is what I want to do, hit the ground, be with
03:16the people of my state? Did it transform your image, your life in a way?
03:20Absolutely. Stanford MBA is good for business. A Padi Yatra is very very
03:24important for politics. I think it enabled me to understand my state much
03:30better. I've understood the issues much better. My EQ is far higher than it was
03:35before a Padi Yatra and today I'm able to relate to what an MLA says much
03:40better because I was there. I walked in his constituency for two, three days. I
03:44connected with people. I would have frequent interactions. So I believe now
03:49that the circle is complete and I'm able to contribute far better. Let's turn to
03:54that contribution. Your minister for electronics, for IT and for education.
04:01Your father in many ways is seen as the builder of modern-day Hyderabad using
04:06digital technology. He was talking of dashboards and digital technology long
04:10before any other politician did. Is that going to be, how do you see taking your
04:17father's interest in digital, the digital economy to the next level? We are in the
04:22world of AI. From IT to AI, is that the transition that's going to take place
04:28from Chandrababu Naidu to Nara Lokesh? Are you going to build a new Hyderabad
04:31somewhere in Andhra Pradesh? Well we're going to build a new data city in
04:35Visakhapatnam. So no second thoughts about it. See Hyderabad and India was a
04:40beneficiary of the Y2K revolution. Everyone knows that. And I believe we are
04:44now at the cusp of the next revolution and states that position themselves with
04:48quality manpower and you know an ecosystem which enables speed of doing
04:53business. I believe we can leapfrog and Andhra Pradesh is now at the right point.
04:57What is it about the Telugu people or Telugu speaking people, Andhraites,
05:01Telanganaites, they've taken over the IT world. They've almost had a
05:06head start. You look around you, look at America, look at even in India, many of
05:11the leading companies are headed by people from your state. How do you then
05:15translate that into an entire ecosystem for a state like Andhra Pradesh and
05:20ensure, as you say, create these IT data city centers? How tough is that going to be?
05:25I believe that we are today competing with all other states. We have
05:30amazing, you know, quality manpower now in our state. And as an HRD minister, I'm
05:35focused on revamping our entire curriculum from KG to PG and preparing
05:40next generation thought leaders also coming out of our state. And that's why
05:44I'm working with the industries. I'm working with the environs of the
05:48world to do centers of excellence to understand the kind of curriculum that
05:51we need to create, the intersection of technology in language, arts and various
05:56other forms in humanities, and looking at how can we revamp the entire curriculum.
06:00And that's exactly what we're now doing in Andhra Pradesh.
06:03You know, because it's very interesting you initiated for what I think was almost
06:08revolutionary in a way. You've created WhatsApp services. Manamitra is what it's
06:14called. The Andhra Pradesh government offers 200 citizen services now through
06:19WhatsApp. One month since installation, you've already got 2 million users and
06:24I'm told 80.2% in the recent survey has said they're happy with it. Do you
06:29believe that's the future? Because governments in the past have been
06:32accused of not doing enough to connect with citizens once they get elected. Do
06:36you believe WhatsApp is one of the weapons in a way or instruments that can
06:41be used to connect to people on scale in real time?
06:44I mean, let's just take a step back. You know, the whole idea started from my
06:50padayatra, where people were questioning me saying that, you know, I push a button,
06:54I get food, I get groceries, I can watch a movie. Why is government not so
06:58proactive? A simple point that was raised every day, day in, day out. It started
07:03with that simple idea. And today, we are one of the very few governments in the
07:07world to bring close to 200 services on a single number. And by end of this month,
07:13we'll have close to 350 services and the mandate with which we're working is to
07:16bring each and every government services online on WhatsApp. And WhatsApp
07:20is just a medium. It could be any other platform. Give me an example. Give me an
07:23example of a service that you believe can be effectively used through WhatsApp to
07:28connect to a large number of people in real time. Let's talk about certificates.
07:32I'll give you a great example. You know, getting your basic things, your caste
07:37certificate is mired with corruption at the grassroots level. Today, you can get on
07:41WhatsApp. Your 10th class board exam hall tickets, you have to go to the
07:46school and, you know, you have to just wait there, hope the principal is there
07:49or the authority is there to give you the certificates. You can get on WhatsApp
07:53today. So, that's how dynamic things can be. And that's what we have now achieved
07:57in Andhra Pradesh. And I believe it's just the beginning. And we're really
08:01excited on the next wave of services that we'll bring on. And eventually, I
08:06want to even bring land records to such platforms to make it very transparent to
08:11transact and use technology like blockchain. You know, because we are at
08:16the cusp of a moment where AI is likely to disrupt lives. Do you believe AI can
08:21be an enabler for governance or will AI end up being a replacement or a
08:27disruptor in the truest sense? I mean, if you accept it, if you adapt to it, it will
08:35definitely transform our lives. If you resist it, you'll be out of a job, as
08:40simple as that. So, as a government, we believe that AI is here. It is going to
08:45be the next wave and we have to be ready for it. Our citizens have to be ready for
08:49it. Our students have to be ready for it. And the state has to be ready for it. But
08:53are there some states which have a comparative advantage? I give the example
08:57of Telangana. You know, we had Ravindra Reddy sitting where you were yesterday.
09:02He said, Hyderabad is the city of the future. To that extent, a newer state
09:06like Andhra Pradesh, you're saying you'll make Vishakhapatnam into the next data
09:09city. Do you lack a competitive advantage compared to a Bengaluru which had a huge
09:15advantage courtesy Y2K? You have Telangana which has an advantage because
09:20of the Hyderabad's location. Is it going to be tougher for some states? See,
09:25Karnataka has Bangalore, Tamil Nadu has Chennai, Telangana has Hyderabad,
09:28Andhra Pradesh has Chandrababu Naidu. He's our competitive advantage. So he's a
09:36person who drives all of us on speed of doing business. I'll give you an example
09:40of it. I think it was a 17th cabinet meeting and at the end of the cabinet
09:45meeting, he took out the report on how many files each minister is sitting and
09:48how much time is each minister taking to clear files. And believe me, after that
09:52cabinet, yesterday I was watching my Home Minister, Anita Ji's secretary was
09:58running behind her and I was wondering what is he doing with an iPad. I mean,
10:00Home Minister's iPad doesn't go well. It's basically a file came, we have to
10:04clear the file, otherwise it will take time. Hurry up. I mean, that's the kind of, that's
10:08the competitive advantage that we have and that's Mr. Naidu. And look at what
10:12we are doing with Amravati all over again. We'll have announcements in the
10:15data city now coming up in Vishakhapatnam. Yesterday, we signed with Tata Power
10:19a 7 gigawatt renewable energy project that's going to come in Andhra Pradesh. I
10:25mean, these are just a few of the examples that we've now been able to achieve.
10:28You know, you mentioned Chandrababu Naidu Ji and he, you know, Chandrababu
10:31Naidu saw himself almost as a CEO of Hyderabad and Telangana. He told me
10:38something before during the election campaign that had I not been Chief
10:42Minister at the time, who knows, I'd be CEO of Google and I'd do a better job.
10:45And that, you know, he had that self-confidence. He believed he was the
10:48real initiator of what happened. But do you see yourself as that? Not a
10:52politician, but now more a sort of CEO style. Is that the style that you prefer
10:57in a way? I'm more a common man. Oh, come on. For me, that's what makes this
11:05entire journey even more rewarding. You know, intersection of technology and
11:10solving common problems. See, we can talk about AI, we can talk about eager, we can
11:15talk about e-files, all that is great. But if not for my Padyatra, I wouldn't have
11:19understood that delivering certificates is such a challenge. And this entire
11:23Manamitra, which is our friend, concept wouldn't have come about. So, I believe
11:26that while technology is here, we should embrace it. We shouldn't get carried
11:31away with it. We should look at how do we harness the strength of the technology
11:35for the benefit of the common man. And that's where I believe that I have best
11:38of both worlds. I can, and I can harness the technology for our citizens. Very
11:43interesting, because another interesting concept which your government and your
11:48Chief Minister is planning is a skill census. He's already started a pilot. You
11:53know, the rest of India is talking of a caste census. Chandrababu Naidu is
11:57talking of a skill census. Do you believe that's really the future, to find out
12:01what skills do people have, rather than find out what caste they belong to?
12:07In fact, caste census is a lot easier. The caste census is a lot easier than a
12:13skill census. I've realized that. Why? That's under me. It's under the
12:18Skills Development Corporation, which is under the HRD Ministry. The biggest
12:23challenge that I am facing right now is how do you assess skills across so many
12:27traits? And how can individuals be, like, how can you create that symbiotic
12:32relationship between them? And then look at a lifelong journey of learning. And
12:37that's what makes it exciting, but challenging. We've done a pilot in my own
12:42constituency, which is Mangalagiri. I've learned a lot from that pilot. And now
12:46we're fine-tuning the entire process. And we're looking forward to actually
12:49rolling it out across the state. You believe it's possible to scale up across
12:52this country, we could have a skill census, which could actually transform
12:57the country much more than a caste census. Am I right? Absolutely. I truly
13:00believe. You can scale it across India. I believe India can do it. If there's any
13:04country that can do it, India can do it. We have the technology, we have the UID
13:08platform, we can really substantially leapfrog in that sense. Fascinating. You
13:13know, this is the interesting part where you stand out as a politician with a
13:18difference. Let's turn, therefore, to some of the political questions. Your HRD and
13:24education. There's this entire debate now raging with the southern states taking
13:28the lead, particularly MK Stalin, on the new education policy and the three
13:33language formula. Your father was asked this question two days ago in Delhi. He
13:37said, I'm not against Hindi. We should be a multilingual country. You can have as
13:42many languages as possible. Is that how you see it? That you can't restrict
13:47yourself, in fact, even to three languages, allow students to learn as
13:50many languages as they want? Or do you fear, like Stalin does, that this will
13:54lead to the imposition of Hindi? I don't believe impositions will happen in India.
14:01I believe every state is unique and when I met the education minister, he was more
14:07insisting me on promoting Telugu in my own state and as a medium of education.
14:13So there's a great trust from India government to promote local languages
14:17and mother tongue, number one. Number two, I agree, I mean, Mr. Naidu is leading from
14:22the front. If you look at it, it's not just about three languages. You know, our
14:26kids should learn German, Japanese, because that's the next wave of jobs
14:29that's opening up for us. I've seen that. Like nurses, home care, there's huge
14:35opportunity now in Germany and in Japan and as a skill development minister, I've
14:39now inked an agreement to actually teach German to nurses so that they can have
14:45mobility and they can actually go to Germany and render their services there.
14:49There's an agreement where we're going to teach even Japanese to nurses. So I
14:54think this is just the beginning and India can have a very strategic role to
14:58play and I believe it's important to learn multiple languages. So you're not
15:02going to take a cue from what MK Stalin is saying. You're saying, be multilingual,
15:07don't see this as imposition of Hindi. You would in fact like probably Telugu to
15:12be spoken in some North Indian states. Why not? I think that should be the way.
15:17Give the kids the opportunity to learn what they would want to learn. See, I'm
15:22reasonably fluent in Hindi.
15:27So for me, I believe it's important. It's important to survive in this
15:34day and age. It's important to learn multiple languages.
15:37There's an even bigger time bomb brewing, it seems, in the southern states. I mean
15:43the word time bomb has been used by MK Stalin, which is delimitation. Do you
15:48believe that Andhra Pradesh will join the chorus of the southern states
15:53calling for an all-party meeting, calling for clarity from the center when
15:57it comes to delimitation? Do you fear, as Stalin says, that the southern states
16:01will lose out to the states of the Hindi heartland simply because of population
16:05numbers? To be fair, you know, the entire population control should not be used
16:11against the southern states. I agree with that logic. But saying that India
16:16government has made it very clear that the current ratios will be maintained.
16:19So just because some states have elections and they're making it an
16:22election issue, I don't believe Andhra Pradesh should jump onto the bandwagon.
16:26If there's anything, as an NDA partner, we will have a conversation and we can
16:30resolve things. You see yourself therefore as NDA partners, not as
16:38partners of some broader southern coalition that MK Stalin wants to create
16:42on delimitation. See, our support to NDA was always unconditional. We joined the
16:47NDA unconditionally. We continue to support India unconditionally. And I
16:52believe that today we have, you know, a voice at the table and we will use it at
16:57the appropriate forum. You know, it's interesting you're saying you have a
17:00voice at the table. People, the buzz in Delhi is if Nara Lokesh or
17:05Chandrababu Naidu come to Delhi, all doors open up for them. Are you
17:10extracting a price for your support from the NDA government? Any project that
17:15Andhra Pradesh needs is always given priority. We saw it in the 2024 budget as
17:19well. This is Andhra Pradesh once again getting back into the game. So it suits
17:24you, right? When you say voice at the table, is it a voice at the table or is
17:28it extracting? See, Telugudesham party might be a regional party but we believe
17:34in India first and our approach has always been that. Please look at us
17:40during Vajpayee ji's tenure. Look at telecom deregulation, opening up highways,
17:47opening up our airports, ports. The first private airport came in combined
17:53Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad. The first private port was in Andhra Pradesh. So we
17:57believe that we contribute to the nation's building. In that whole process,
18:01like any other state would benefit from it, Andhra Pradesh benefits from it by
18:04being the first mover. But that's it. Not beyond that. No, it's interesting because
18:09five years ago, you all were with the, you know, with Rahul Gandhi in the
18:12Congress. Five years later you're back to Mr. Modi and the BJP. More
18:17comfortable here than you were on the other side or simply being on the right
18:20side of power what a state like Andhra Pradesh needs at the moment? No, if you
18:23look at it, pre-2024 elections, we've extended our support unconditionally.
18:28It was unconditional. We walked into India unconditionally. We continue to
18:32support India unconditionally. And our contribution is more towards nation's
18:37building. And in the whole process, yes, Andhra Pradesh might be the first mover
18:40advantage, might have it. I think there's nothing wrong in it. Okay, let me turn…
18:46There's no policy just for Andhra Pradesh. There's a policy for India. Okay, you know,
18:50there is the soft side of Nara Lokesh, well-spoken, Stanford graduate, focusing
18:58on e-governance. There's the other side apparently, which Andhraites tell me,
19:04which is the red book. You've got this red book, which has all the names of the
19:10YSRCP leaders who targeted your party. And one by one, you are in some way
19:16eliminating them. You're targeting them, eliminating them. That is the darker side
19:22of this politics of vendetta. Jagan Reddy targeted you, put your father in jail.
19:28You are determined to finish him off. Is this the politics of vendetta? What is
19:33this red book? Can you show it to us? No, see, I think that… Is there a red book?
19:40Yes, red book does exist. I've showed it in all the public meetings of my paad yatra.
19:47But I think there's a lot of context to it and people should appreciate that.
19:52A graduate from Stanford, I have twenty-three cases foisted against me in
19:57the last five years. Twenty-three. There's a false SCST case against me.
20:02There's an attempt to murder case filed against me. So as a next generation
20:11politician and as a young leader of this great country, I believe that there's a
20:15responsibility on us to restore the fundamentals of our democracy. People who
20:21broke the law have to face the music of the law. And that's all I've been saying.
20:26And we've followed the due process of the law. So you cannot hold it against me
20:31that I'm implementing the law of the land. If I did break the law, do take
20:37action against me. I have no calms on it. I was a minister in the past term,
20:41third term of Mr. Reddy. They couldn't find any fault in any of my files. Any of my
20:47files. Because I've done nothing wrong. But I believe it's important to restore
20:52the fourth pillar of the democracy and we are doing it. But is there an element
20:55of vendetta in that? That you are now out to somehow or the other do to Jagan
21:00Mohan Reddy what you believe Jagan Mohan Reddy did to you, your father, your party.
21:04And therefore Andhra Pradesh will once again get caught in this vortex of
21:08vendetta politics. This is the same question I've been asked every month for
21:12the last nine months. It's been nine months. Have you seen it? Have you seen it
21:16happen? Absolutely not. Everyone is happy. Things are going on. Massive investments
21:21are coming into Andhra Pradesh today. You know the entire ecosystem is moving
21:25forward. But there are also YSRCP leaders who say their houses are being raided,
21:31their workers are being attacked. Absolutely not. I mean if I do, if I do
21:36take a leaf out of Jagan's textbook, it'll be very difficult for him to go
21:41out then. Because he didn't let us even go out and protest. They would tie our
21:46gate and they won't let the Honorable Chief Minister of Myself to even step
21:50out of our own house. But today Jagan is moving freely in Andhra Pradesh. We never
21:54stopped him. In fact he gets more security than our Deputy Chief Minister.
21:57So where is vendetta politics coming in from? You know even when the Tirupati
22:02ladoo controversy broke up a few months ago, that also became you know is this
22:07vendetta politics at work? Chandrababu Naidu trying to take over in a way
22:13whatever the management of Tirupati, there was some versus Jagan who tried to
22:20control it earlier. Is all of this tangled in politics, Lokesh? Do you
22:24believe it's important to break away from that to build a better state?
22:27No, no. Tirupati is very very personal for Mr. Naidu because his ancestral home
22:34looks at one of the hill. So he's grown up seeing the Lord and taking his
22:39blessings. It is a fact that he came across a report that tested the ghee
22:45that made those claims. And he said that. He made that statement. And TTD is never
22:50under the management of individuals. It's under the management of the state
22:54government. It's one of the best well-oiled machine. It runs. It's amazing.
22:59It's a highest efficiency, the quality of food, everything is great. But when there
23:03is a report, as a Chief Minister, it's his responsibility to put it out. If he
23:08didn't put it out, sitting here you would question me saying why didn't you put
23:11that report out. I think he's just doing what he believes is right. In the past
23:17we've made allegations and it's rightfully so on liquor, on sand.
23:24Supreme Court has a case going on, on the sand mafia of Andhra Pradesh. So all
23:29these are facts. So you cannot say that I shouldn't use the law, you know, for the
23:35people who have broken the law. They have to face music. No second thoughts about it.
23:39But by no means is it vended or politics. So let me let me just push you one last
23:43time on this. Do you worry sometimes that the brutal competitive
23:48politics turns the gaze away from the real issues. The real issues should be of
23:54governance. People want better governance. However, on the ground, politicians are
23:58busy fighting off their battles, defecting from one side to the other and
24:02thereby a lot of energy is invested and wasted in fighting these battles. And
24:08is Andhra Pradesh one of those states that could lose out as a result?
24:12Absolutely not. We are not going to lose out. Saying that, see, Andhra Pradesh in the
24:1790s had an amazing democracy where in the house both parties would fight on
24:23issues or on the bill till the VR, till 2-3 in the morning. But today it
24:30doesn't exist and it's very unfortunate. Debate needs to happen, discourse needs
24:34to happen. It's very unfortunate that opposition has decided not to come to
24:38the house for whatever numbers they have. They're saying you're not allowing
24:40Jagan to even be the leader of the opposition. He is the leader of his
24:45party. Who am I to allow him or not allow him? But leader of opposition, leader of
24:50opposition definition is quite clear. The rule, the parliamentary rules and the
24:55assembly rule states that he needs to have 10% of the constituent assembly. He
25:01doesn't have that. So he expects me to break the rule for him. I think that's
25:06very unfair. We are law-abiding citizens. We are not here to break any rules.
25:10Okay, let's look ahead. 42-year-old politician, how do you see the next
25:18decade? Are you the heir apparent? You know, in the South, we started off with
25:23dynasty politics. We are going to look back, as we end, we are coming back to
25:27that because we are seeing in Tamil Nadu, Uday Nidhi Stalin rising and becoming
25:32deputy chief minister. Next time when you come to the India Today conclave,
25:37will you be deputy chief minister? Is that the way the Telugu Desam, like all,
25:41like many in regional parties, has a clear line of succession? Are you the
25:45successor, anointed successor of Chandrababu Naiduji? See, it is for the
25:50people of Andhra Pradesh to decide who will lead them. It is not for Mr. Naidu
25:54to decide. So people of Andhra Pradesh will decide on that, number one. Number
25:58two, if you just look at my journey, I've always taken a road less traveled. I've
26:03contested in a constituency the Telugu Desam party has not won since 1985. I
26:07lost in 2019 by 5,300 votes. I stuck at it, fought, and this time around I won it
26:15with 91,000 majority, which is the third highest in Andhra Pradesh. HRD ministry
26:21is the most toughest ministry and I chose it. HRD ministry is the most
26:26tough ministry? Yeah, it is. Why? We have amazing unions. Teacher unions are very
26:31strong and I believe that's where change should start. Change should start from
26:35education. I believe that we have a very important role to play and that's where
26:39I've chosen a road less traveled and I believe in that and it's for the
26:43people of Andhra Pradesh to decide who sits where. Today is Women's Day and I
26:48know, I believe that your wife is a very powerful, strong woman, as is your mother.
26:54In fact, I heard that they were very successful. Your mother set up a very
26:57successful business enterprise. What have you learned from your wife and your
27:04mother on Women's Day? You can tell us. Are they the real power in the Naidu
27:08family? You don't see them much in the public eye, but they are the ones
27:14I'm told that perhaps are the real driving force in the family. Well, my wife
27:18pays my credit card bills. Really? She does. So, we are second generation
27:24entrepreneurs. So, the other side of Mr. Naidu is that he's a successful
27:28entrepreneur. He started a dairy company way back in the 90s and it's a listed
27:32company. It has a close to about four and a half thousand crores of market cap and
27:36now my wife, Bramini, is the executive director of that company and she runs it
27:40day to day. If there's something that I should learn from her, it's work-life
27:44balance. She does it far better than I could have ever imagined. She takes care
27:48of, you know, the business. We have only one son, Devansh, so she takes up all the
27:53responsibility of taking care of him. Then, of course, she has the other son,
27:57which is me, and she's busy calling me in the evening, lecturing me about my
28:01health and I need to take care of things and so on so forth. So, I mean, work-life
28:05balance. I believe women do a much, much better job than men do and I think we
28:09have a lot to learn from them in that sense. Saying that, I don't believe that
28:13Women's Day should be one day. It should be celebrated every day and as HRD
28:17Minister, we are doing a lot of changes in our curriculum, starting from
28:22household chores. Why should the photos be all women? So, from this year, it's 50-50.
28:27It's going to be men and women doing household chores, the pictures in our
28:31textbook. So, I believe transformation should happen from education. You know, I
28:35love the way you said that 4,500 crores market cap so casually. That's what makes
28:41the southern politicians different. They don't wear their money on their sleeve,
28:45right? But the truth of the matter is, as you said, this has been quite a journey
28:53for you, particularly the last few years. Was there ever a moment of doubt, a
28:57moment of darkness, wondering, telling your wife, let's go back and live on
29:03the West Coast? Might be much easier to be in San Francisco or go back to the
29:08Stanford campus. What are we doing in the badlands of Rayalaseema and Kakinada
29:12and wherever else?
29:13Padhyatra couldn't stop me, but when Mr. Naidu was arrested, there was this
29:20movement where my wife told me, she said, is this worth it? You know, as a family,
29:25we've had so much of respect. We've lived at a certain level. Is this worth it? You
29:30know, he's behind bars. Why are we doing all this? What's the point? But that very
29:35evening in Hyderabad, 45,000 IT professionals came together to do a
29:40gratitude concert for Mr. Naidu. And this was on a day when there's a cricket
29:44match. 45,000 IT professionals came. And it was not, it was apolitical. We didn't
29:50organize it. They did it on their own. And that made it worth it. And that's when
29:54we all felt that we should do this. This is worth it. And that's why we've
29:58committed our life all over again to the service of the citizens of India and
30:03Andhra Pradesh.
30:03By the way, Lokesh is a man of many parts. He's also a great cricket fan. You
30:09might have spotted him at the India Pakistan match in Dubai. Are you going
30:13tomorrow to watch the match and taking me along with you? We can go and watch. I
30:17believe there's a box that the Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association has. We have
30:22the secretary of the APCA also here. So should we go and watch the match and
30:26who's going to win?
30:27I have assembly come Monday, so I better be here.
30:30I've got a news bulletin 9pm on Monday, but we can watch the match and fly back
30:34from Dubai. But is that who's going to win?
30:37Oh, India all the way. Okay, really excited. Can't wait to watch it.
30:42Ladies and gentlemen, as I said, Lokesh is a man of many parts. And in this half
30:46hour, we've tried to discover those various parts. He's focused on
30:49governance, focused on IT, he's done the padiyatras, done the hard yards, and
30:53thereby, in a sense, has sent out a message to other political dinners, that
30:58if you really want to rise, you've got to hit the ground, be willing to take
31:02the road less traveled, and have strong women along the way with you.
31:09I remember, as I said, at the outset, interviewing your grandfather, I'll just
31:13ask him one, any memories of the great NTR? Do you have any memories at all? He
31:19made me interview him at 5am in the morning.
31:24Do you get up at 5am?
31:25I sleep at 3am, so there's no way I'm getting up at 5am. I'm a full-time
31:29politician. No, but saying that, I mean, he's a larger-than-life personality. And
31:33every time I would go there, typically on our birthdays, to take his blessings, my
31:37mom would warn me, don't do this, don't do that, don't do that. But, you know,
31:41when you go there, the kind of love and affection he would have for his
31:43grandkids, it was just amazing. So, that's my fond memory of my grandfather.
31:47NT Rama Rao founded Telugu Desam in the 19… in 1983, won an election in just
31:53six months, quite a remarkable career, charismatic figure. Chandrababu Naidu,
31:57in many ways, one of the real builders of modern Hyderabad. Nara Lokesh has big
32:02shoes to fill, but he started off on that journey. For joining us here at the
32:07India Today Conclave, thank you very much, Nara Lokesh. Thank you.
32:10Thank you, Rajiv. Thanks for having me.