Chandrababu Naidu appoints son as TDP general secretary

Projecting his son Nara Lokesh as his heir apparent, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday appointed him party's national general secretary.

Naidu announced a 41-member central committee and two state committees for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister promoted his son, naming him ex-officio member of the politburo and the general secretary of the central committee. The businessman-turned-politician has so far been holding the post of coordinator, cadre welfare fund.

Lokesh, who will be one of the three general secretaries, started participating in the party activities during 2009 polls. However, he became active in 2012 and emerged as a powerful leader in the party ranks.

A science graduate from Carnegie Mellon University, he also earned a Master's in business administration from Stanford University.

The 32-year-old had a brief stint at the World Bank before returning home to become vice president of Heritage Foods, headed by his mother N. Bhuwaneswari.

Naidu was TDP general secretary when his father-in-law and party founder N.T. Rama Rao was heading the party.

Naidu led a revolt against NTR in 1995 and has since been holding the reins of the party.

This is the first time in its 33-year-old history that TDP has constituted a central committee. This followed the unanimous election of Naidu as party's national president at its conclave in May this year.

The TDP decided to become a national party in the wake of the bifurcation of the erstwhile undivided state of Andhra Pradesh, in order to function effectively in both the states.

Naidu has named former home minister Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao as the president of TDP's Andhra Pradesh unit and L. Ramana will head the Telangana unit.

Naidu has included his brother-in-law N. Harikrishna in the 17-member politburo.

He named four vice presidents of the central committee - P. Ramulu, G. Rammohan Rao, M. Srinivasula Reddy and D.K. Satyaprabha. The politburo members include Ashok Gajapati Raju, Y. Ramakrishnudu, K.E. Krishnamurthy, K. Srinivasulu, R. Chandrasekhar Reddy, S. Chandramohan Reddy, T. Devender Goud, E. Dayakar Rao, Uma Madhava Reddy.

There are four ex-officio members of politburo, including Lokesh.